Day 101: We don't want to go home!

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Today was the day... our holiday had come to an end and 3.5 months had flown by faster than we'd ever imagined! Our morning consisted mostly of packing and we kept up our regimented approach - plus we were now able to throw a few things away, freeing up some space for last minute souvenirs. We made our way over to the airport via the bus, although James had a slight fall out with the bus driver over the fare, delaying us a little! At 2pm we launched off the runway and bid farewell to New Zealand. At this point James was planning how he would be able to emigrate, he'd fallen in love with the country big time...

We had a long way to travel and this included a stop in Sydney, Singapore, London then finally Manchester. Qantas treated us well and each plane we got on gave us another meal; I had to keep turning them down as I was full from the first dinner! The entertainment was good, we both watched Life of Pi although I spent a lot of time covering my eyes from the scary tiger. James continued to attempt the world record for most films watched on a plane, where as I choose to sleep as much as possible.



New Zealand awards:

Best hostel: Nomads Queenstown

Worst hostel: Base Lake Taupo

Best activity: Franz Joseph Glacier Ice Explorer tour & Kaikoura Dolphin Encounter

Worst activity: Hole in the rock tour, Bay of Islands

Favourite ice cream flavour: TipTop Gold Rush

Best pie: Arrowtown bakery



Bailey's bit: While Thailand feels like a lifetime ago, the last 101 days have still flown by, and it's time to pack up our memories and experiences and take them home with us! I'm sure reality is going to be a shock to the system but I hope to keep these memories as vivid as possible for as long as possible!

The last day was long both in the time we were up and the length of Wednesday. Because we were flying back through time zones it meant that the 20th of March lasted about 30 hours! I again struggled to sleep so reverted to watching 5 films and documenties. In our hour stop over in Singapore I managed to catch a quick power nap on the floor of the departure lounge, which Cat kindly photographed and uploaded all over Facebook. In the second half of the trip I managed to grab a couple of hours before we touched down in London before hopping on our final flight back to, surprisingly sunny (yet freezing!), Manchester.

Daily mileage: 5, had a final morning run around the park and botanical gardens. I checked my history on my watch and I clocked up just over 500 miles while I have been away. Obviously no where near what I would have done back in the UK but enough to keep things ticking over! Training will start in earnest on the Monday!

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