Bye Bye New Zealand!

Being in Christchurch was a funny little experience for me. Firstly, I kept seeing signs everywhere for Canterbury Christchurch, Canterbury Museum, Canterbury this, Canterbury that. It took me back to the days of living in Kent and particularly my fun year living in Canterbury whilst I was at art college....ahh the good old days where the next few years were mapped out for you in a series of terms and holiday blocks. Also the times where you didn't have to fret too much about getting a job/running up an overdraft/finding a bed for the night/new freckles etc. But hey, the unknown is the exciting part I'm told!

I shed a tear as Gemma got into the shuttle bus and on her way to the airport to commence her mammoth journey back to the UK, taking her some 36 hours at least when you take into account her two changes in Sydney and Bangkok. Felt like an end of an era after our 10 weeks travel together. I believe she is back safe and sound now, and was greeted at the arrivals gate by her boyfriend and his nephew with banners reading "Welcome home Gemma" and "We love Gingers". Brilliant! Infact I shed another tear at this point...what a beautiful moment that must have been...though don't worry I'm not missing England at all and I'm quite happy where I am ta! Though of course you could all show your love and appreciation by wiring some money if you like?! :-)

Jon and I, abandoned by J Lo Gemma, wandered off to fend for ourselves and consequently got lost straight away. A few directions later and we found ourselves somewhere to eat some brekkie and sort our lives out for the next few days left in New Zealand before we were due to fly to Australia. Christchurch, as lovely as it was, wasn't enough to keep up occupied for the next five days, so we decided to hire a campervan and do our own thing for a bit before reuniting with Sarah and a few other of the team from the Stray bus. We collected our van the next day, called a Wicked Camper, which was affectionately named Tea Bag and covered in spray paint graffitti, and loaded some kit into the back. Feeling rather nervous about driving an automatic van in a different country (NZ drive on the same side of the road to us which made it easier!), I ordered Jon to stay awake the entire time so that I had a map reader! I got beeped once in Christchurch within the first half hour...haha well surely they could see we were tourists?! But we made it out of Christchurch quite easily and followed the scenic road up to a town called Kaikoura. The drive was a lot of fun, beautiful rolling country side and snow capped mountains as ever, as well as crashing waves on the seafronts next to us. Unfortunately the radio signal cut out shortly after leaving Christchurch so poor Jon had to put up with my choice of music (the only CD I had was Manu Chow) but we had a good time all the same. We pulled up in Kaikoura after about three hours, cooked ourselves a spot of dinner from the little cooker in the back (wrapped up in many layers and freezing to death) and then headed straight to the pub to warm up. We ended up joining in with a pub quiz actually. Two local kiwis must have taken pity on us, as every other table had large groups formed, whereas Jon and I sat with just the two of us! We had a good evening chatting to them, and they told us where to park up for the night. We blasted the heating on in the van before bedding down for the night...infact it wasn't too bad really, not too chilly really. We work up the next morning to sunrise on the beach and snow capped mountains...incredible. A lady was getting into her car next to us and she said "It's paradise isn't it? And I pinch myself as I wake up to it every morning" Ahhh...write that down as a meaniful quote!

We took ourselves off to Maruia Springs that day which was a bit more inland. More lovely scenes and winding roads. We drove through a lot of towns which were like ghost towns...seemed to be nobody about everywhere we went! We finally arrived at Maruia Springs, and excitedly booked a session in the hot pools and Japanese spas. It was amusing to have to walk speedily in bathing suits in the freezing cold, and sit in the spas as quickly as the temperature would allow...but once immersed in soothing heat and the natural minerals in the spa pools, overlooking the mountainside, we were happy! An odd sensation to be in the cold air but to feel warm in the spa pools! How very relaxing and worth the drive!

On the drive back we started freaking out as the petrol light flashed up, and we were by this point in the middle of nowhere and it was pitch black. A very tense ride that was I tell you! We were trying to calm ourselves by noting that there was always a car ahead or behind us, so that if the worst happened at least we could try flagging someone...though Jon did start recalling all sorts of stories he remembered from Crimewatch and scaring himself that we could end up in a similar situation....thanks Jon! Just the sort of conversation we needed at that point! Going uphill was the worst bit, the petrol all ran to the back of the tank and the petrol light was threating to stop us in our tracks, then a sigh of relief as we cruised down hill for a bit more....oh dear you can see the pattern here? Finally, after what seemed like an age of gripping the wheel and negotiating all the sharp bends, we finally saw a Mobil garage. Phew!! So in we pulled, hearts lifting again, until we then saw that you needed a Mobil club card in order to use the stupid thing. The air was cursed like pandemonium and we slammed the doors to drive back on our way. Who only allows Mobil club members to use their petrol tanks? Surely that is bad for business - they just lost our custom didn't they! All was ok in the end as we found another garage and filled up. Thank goodness we had not broken down before then, would have been very intimidating in the countryside and would have broken the bank to have call out charges etc..but hey, these stories make it the adventure it was I guess!

Once back in Christchurch the next day we met up with Sarah and a few others to do a day of sightseeing in Christchurch. We visited the Botanic gardens and some markets and also a few art galleries at the arts centre. That evening we sat and watched the All Blacks v Australia rugby game in the pub, absolutely loved the haka and brought back the memories of our cultural evening earlier on in the month where the boys in our group had learnt how to perform it. Sadly, Christchurch by night was not as great as it was by day, so we gave up on the rubbish bars after a while and went to bed. Australia the next day!!!! Yippee!

So yes, we are now in Australia, Cairns to be exact. I left my coat and winter clothes behind in New Zealand for someone else to make use of, and I am now sat here in shorts and a top, not feeling cold what so ever. Lovely. Yesterday, Jon, Sarah and I went on a boat trip around the Great Barrier Reef which was great. Snorkelling was incredible. Even better was my chance to fly in a helicopter which was something that I have always longed to do. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef from 500ft above was so exciting, and amazingly beautiful. The ten minute ride seemed to go in seconds which was shame but it was such a good experience. There should be a ton of photos on facebook to follow.

We're staying put in Cairns for a bit until we decide what to do with ourselves. Today we had our first Australian barbeque out on the seafront and I even tried a tiny piece of kangaroo meat - bloody disgusting. Don't do it. We're off out tonight, and then tomorrow I'll try get onto the job hunt again. Fingers crossed.

That's about all for now. Ta ra.