On the flight over Chris managed to leave her kindle all alone somewhere. We had thought it had wanted to stay in the UK and had camped out in Heathrow, but thanks to the Sherlock Holmes-type endeavours of the Flight Service Manager it was tracked down in Los Angeles. After travelling the globe a few times with her, she kindly couriered it during one of her Auckland stops and it has finally been reunited with Chris. Hurray for very helpful Air NZ staff :o)
Yesterday Chris went out for a cycle around the city to try out some different cycle ways. At pretty much the furthest away point of the ride (naturally) she got a puncture. Her puncture repair kit was in a bag attached to her mountain bike but of course she was riding the other bike. So she calls Andy, who is out running at that point, leaves him a message and starts walking. After a while she is getting close to one of the main routes in the city where she knows there are some bike shops, so decides to take a detour there to try to repair the puncture rather than continue plodding home. She goes into one and asks, if she buys a puncture repair kit could she borrow some tyre levers and a pump? That was fine and she is left to help herself by the service area. Typically, it was the rear tyre (why is it always the rear tyre??) and on this bike it isn't a quick release wheel, so she also had to borrow some spanners. On the plus side she now felt better about not having the puncture repair kit with her as she wouldn't have been able to get the wheel off anyway. She eventually gets the wheel off (and is now covered in grease and oil) and sets about looking for the puncture. Checks the tyre first to see if anything is stuck in it - and discovers a fairly large screw! A nail or piece of glass would have been expected, but a screw? So now knowing where abouts to look on the tube for the puncture, she finds that the screw had made an extremely good job of damaging the tube and as well as at least 3 holes it had obviously dragged along the tube and caused a split. Safe to say it was beyond the help of a puncture repair kit! Still not having heard back from Andy yet she calls again to find out he had finished his run a wee while ago and just not checked his phone!! Ho hum. Anyway, he then comes out to rescue her and once home again one of our spare inner tubes was found, the old one put in the bin, and the bike is now ready to go again. Why is it always the rear tyre??
During his mad run in the mountains last week, Andy met someone from a local running club which he has now joined. We are realising that the Kiwis tend to get up early and go to bed early, and this definitely extends to the running crowd. He joined them for the first time this morning, getting up at 6am for a 7am start! It's Sunday!! Even the builders haven't woken us up that early yet. This afternoon Chris is off to a forest just north of the city with the group she went mountain biking with to play around in the trees on courses with rope bridges, zip wires etc. Andy is going to the pub ;o)
Tongariro
We're all Mt. Doomed!
Saturday 2 March 2013
Sunday 24 February 2013
Beer festival or mountain run...
Which did Chris go for? Answers on a post......... :o)
Thursday 21 February 2013
Cats and furniture - and a job
Fortunately our belongings turned up two days before the cats were due home. We were horrified by how much stuff there was; considering we have moved a few times now since our adventures began and tried to whittle things down each time, the number of boxes was horrendous! However,the sight of our sofa (very comfy and not seen since we moved out of Longniddry at the beginning of May) was extremely welcome, not to mention the bed, and being able to sit on a sofa and sleep on a bed - instead of bean bag chairs and a blow up mattress - made the chaos worthwhile.
Due to the sheer stupidity of one of the intial packers we had a number of glass and crockery casualties so we probably don't have a full set of anything anymore, but never mind. It makes us even more part of the Christchurch scene - there can't be many sets of crockery that survived the earthquakes intact!
Then came the day of the cats homecoming. We had managed to get the sitting room and bedroom pretty much sorted in time, despite Andy preparing for a second interview in the meantime. He was at the interview while Chris went to fetch the cats. Thankfully they were glad to see her and just did their usual new home thing of walking around the house miaowing constantly for a while before going to bed! They don't seem to be holding any sort of grudge and settled in so quickly it seems like they have always lived here. What a relief!
Andy's sterling efforts at cleaning the bikes and outdoor gear back in Scotland made the mud splattered all around the bathroom as he did so worthwhile (yes, the bikes were taken apart and cleaned in the bath) as the quarantine folk had simply poked a small hole in the packaging of one of the bikes and just opened a couple of gardening boxes before seeing they were so spanking clean there was no need to look any further. Unfortunately, as were originally going to be tight for space in the container we had taken the pedals off the bikes so they could be stacked more easily. Chris had (half) joked about the chances of not being able to find the pedals at this end - which of course turned out to be the case! Thankfully they did turn up eventually and are now back where they should be - on the bikes :o)
Then earlier this week Andy was out checking out the beginning and end of a (completely nuts - Ed) run he is doing this weekend when he got a call to say he had been offered the job he had had two interviews for. What a clever boy! One job application, two interviews, and a job offer within two and a half weeks of landing - fantastic! Needless to say we went out to our favourite pub (only the second visit this trip as it isn't exactly nearby) to celebrate :o)
This weekend sees Andy doing his (nuts - Ed) run while Chris enjoys the Great Kiwi Beer Festival, which just happens to be held in the park less than 10 minutes walk from the house. Chances are neither of us will be able to move on Sunday :o)
Due to the sheer stupidity of one of the intial packers we had a number of glass and crockery casualties so we probably don't have a full set of anything anymore, but never mind. It makes us even more part of the Christchurch scene - there can't be many sets of crockery that survived the earthquakes intact!
Then came the day of the cats homecoming. We had managed to get the sitting room and bedroom pretty much sorted in time, despite Andy preparing for a second interview in the meantime. He was at the interview while Chris went to fetch the cats. Thankfully they were glad to see her and just did their usual new home thing of walking around the house miaowing constantly for a while before going to bed! They don't seem to be holding any sort of grudge and settled in so quickly it seems like they have always lived here. What a relief!
Andy's sterling efforts at cleaning the bikes and outdoor gear back in Scotland made the mud splattered all around the bathroom as he did so worthwhile (yes, the bikes were taken apart and cleaned in the bath) as the quarantine folk had simply poked a small hole in the packaging of one of the bikes and just opened a couple of gardening boxes before seeing they were so spanking clean there was no need to look any further. Unfortunately, as were originally going to be tight for space in the container we had taken the pedals off the bikes so they could be stacked more easily. Chris had (half) joked about the chances of not being able to find the pedals at this end - which of course turned out to be the case! Thankfully they did turn up eventually and are now back where they should be - on the bikes :o)
Then earlier this week Andy was out checking out the beginning and end of a (completely nuts - Ed) run he is doing this weekend when he got a call to say he had been offered the job he had had two interviews for. What a clever boy! One job application, two interviews, and a job offer within two and a half weeks of landing - fantastic! Needless to say we went out to our favourite pub (only the second visit this trip as it isn't exactly nearby) to celebrate :o)
This weekend sees Andy doing his (nuts - Ed) run while Chris enjoys the Great Kiwi Beer Festival, which just happens to be held in the park less than 10 minutes walk from the house. Chances are neither of us will be able to move on Sunday :o)
Sunday 10 February 2013
Cars and beer
A post seems to have gone missing, so sorry for the long gap between the last one and this one!
In the meantime, we have been pretty productive. Apart from doing the dull but necessary things like arranging for our bank cards to be changed to ones that we can use online as well as at a till, buying cleaners, loo brushes etc (life on the edge!) we have done some more exciting things such as buy a car each. Andy crossed that one off the list first buying an older model Subaru Legacy (well this one is called a Legacy Lancaster for some reason) and Chris was then going to buy something smaller, but hopefully speedier. It was an alien situation for her to be walking around car showrooms with no real idea of what she wanted and the general "something fairly small but with decent power" plan went out the window and was replaced with something equally big but with decent power - a newer model Subary Legacy! Yes, we have his and hers Legacys...... However, contrary to the stereotypical split in this kind of situation, Chris has the more powerful one with more toys :o)
However, before that we did an even more important thing and re-establish ourselves with the Sunday Beer Club. This is a casual group Chris came across before our trip here in November and we made it along to one meeting at that point. Basically one of the organisers nominates a pub to meet at and a time (every Sunday, funnily enough) and anyone who can makes it along does. So naturally we went to the session on the Sunday after we got here and it was good to see some familiar faces. In addition to the Sunday sessions there was an extra one on Tuesday 5th. Wednesday 6th February is Waitangi Day which is basically the country's national day. Much like the Scots and Hogmanay, most celebrations happen the evening before with the day itself being a national holiday. Every year there is a classical concert held (for free) in the park in the centre of the city with fireworks after (much like the end of Festival shindig in Edinburgh). So a not-Sunday Beer Club session was organised for the Tuesday evening with a plan to then go to watch the concert. However, it had rained a fair bit for a couple of days before and so concerned that the park would turn into a mudbath the concert was delayed until the Wednesday. The Beer Club still met however, and during the evening the conversation turned to our current lack of furniture and one kind lass offered to lend us a couple of fold out chairs (she also offered anything else we might need, it wasn't a strictly limited offer!). So the next day we picked up two chairs and for the first time were able to eat a meal sitting up instead of hunched over in bean bag chairs - we were so happy! Simple pleasures.....
Then on Wednesday night we went along to the second half of the concert and to watch the fireworks which was very enjoyable.
During our first few days we got our NZ mobile accounts changed from pay as you go to pay monthly accounts. This also then allowed us to sign up to a decent landline, broadband and Sky package with Vodafone. It looked promising to begin with as we were given Thursday as the date for installation of the phone and broadband (we heard from Sky earlier still bus as we have no TV yet....). Thursday passed with no phone line. So late afternoon Chris lost a fair bit of her life to listening to Vodafone's hold music and then spent some depressing time speaking to someone who told her (eventually) that there had been a problem installing the phone line but was adamant the broadband should work. No phone line yet working broadband? Unlikely..... Next day the phone line was sorted but it took a good few more calls to get the broadband sorted, but finally we are back in cyber world - no more daily trips to libraries!
On Tuesday we got a call to let us know that the cats had arrived safely and had settled in quickly to the cattery. It was a massive relief that Maggie hadn't meowed herself to a stroke (Chris forgot to ask the lady from the cattery whether she had heard Maggie meow or whether she had lost her voice....) and Freddie hadn't just keeled over. They need to stay in quarantine for 10 days so we pick them up this Friday. The problem with that is our belongings might arrive Friday or worse case beginning of next week and there isn't enough space to keep the cats shut somewhere safe and get all our furniture in. So we are now looking into getting an outdoor enclosure for them as this would help solve another problem - more to follow on that. If we do get an enclosure it could be a daily chase and battle to catch them in the house to put them in it!
A lot of the roadworks in the city outwith the immediate centre are due to waste water systems being replaced after being damaged in the earthquakes. Unfortunately for us this work is due to start on our road next week. Between that and the building work going on next door (rebuilding a house which fell down) and behind (repairing that one) it is going to make Edinburgh seem peaceful :o( However, at least these roadworks should be over within 8 weeks and only outside our house for one week which is definitely an improvement! Anyway, we were uncomfortable at the thought of letting the cats out when the roadworks are on our street but also don't want to keep them in for that long as it is so hot some days (sorry!) we really need to be able to open the doors and windows! And so the cat enclosure is a very enticing prospect. For us, anyway!
Today we had our first decent outdoorsy day. Andy went for a run in the hills to the south of the city and was like a kid in a sweetie shop, Chris joined an outdoors social group for a trip round a mountain bike track and held the side up for the girls by being fitter than most of the men who were there - go girls! Tomorrow will be back to sensible stuff but all the while planning the next outdoors outing.
In the meantime, we have been pretty productive. Apart from doing the dull but necessary things like arranging for our bank cards to be changed to ones that we can use online as well as at a till, buying cleaners, loo brushes etc (life on the edge!) we have done some more exciting things such as buy a car each. Andy crossed that one off the list first buying an older model Subaru Legacy (well this one is called a Legacy Lancaster for some reason) and Chris was then going to buy something smaller, but hopefully speedier. It was an alien situation for her to be walking around car showrooms with no real idea of what she wanted and the general "something fairly small but with decent power" plan went out the window and was replaced with something equally big but with decent power - a newer model Subary Legacy! Yes, we have his and hers Legacys...... However, contrary to the stereotypical split in this kind of situation, Chris has the more powerful one with more toys :o)
However, before that we did an even more important thing and re-establish ourselves with the Sunday Beer Club. This is a casual group Chris came across before our trip here in November and we made it along to one meeting at that point. Basically one of the organisers nominates a pub to meet at and a time (every Sunday, funnily enough) and anyone who can makes it along does. So naturally we went to the session on the Sunday after we got here and it was good to see some familiar faces. In addition to the Sunday sessions there was an extra one on Tuesday 5th. Wednesday 6th February is Waitangi Day which is basically the country's national day. Much like the Scots and Hogmanay, most celebrations happen the evening before with the day itself being a national holiday. Every year there is a classical concert held (for free) in the park in the centre of the city with fireworks after (much like the end of Festival shindig in Edinburgh). So a not-Sunday Beer Club session was organised for the Tuesday evening with a plan to then go to watch the concert. However, it had rained a fair bit for a couple of days before and so concerned that the park would turn into a mudbath the concert was delayed until the Wednesday. The Beer Club still met however, and during the evening the conversation turned to our current lack of furniture and one kind lass offered to lend us a couple of fold out chairs (she also offered anything else we might need, it wasn't a strictly limited offer!). So the next day we picked up two chairs and for the first time were able to eat a meal sitting up instead of hunched over in bean bag chairs - we were so happy! Simple pleasures.....
Then on Wednesday night we went along to the second half of the concert and to watch the fireworks which was very enjoyable.
During our first few days we got our NZ mobile accounts changed from pay as you go to pay monthly accounts. This also then allowed us to sign up to a decent landline, broadband and Sky package with Vodafone. It looked promising to begin with as we were given Thursday as the date for installation of the phone and broadband (we heard from Sky earlier still bus as we have no TV yet....). Thursday passed with no phone line. So late afternoon Chris lost a fair bit of her life to listening to Vodafone's hold music and then spent some depressing time speaking to someone who told her (eventually) that there had been a problem installing the phone line but was adamant the broadband should work. No phone line yet working broadband? Unlikely..... Next day the phone line was sorted but it took a good few more calls to get the broadband sorted, but finally we are back in cyber world - no more daily trips to libraries!
On Tuesday we got a call to let us know that the cats had arrived safely and had settled in quickly to the cattery. It was a massive relief that Maggie hadn't meowed herself to a stroke (Chris forgot to ask the lady from the cattery whether she had heard Maggie meow or whether she had lost her voice....) and Freddie hadn't just keeled over. They need to stay in quarantine for 10 days so we pick them up this Friday. The problem with that is our belongings might arrive Friday or worse case beginning of next week and there isn't enough space to keep the cats shut somewhere safe and get all our furniture in. So we are now looking into getting an outdoor enclosure for them as this would help solve another problem - more to follow on that. If we do get an enclosure it could be a daily chase and battle to catch them in the house to put them in it!
A lot of the roadworks in the city outwith the immediate centre are due to waste water systems being replaced after being damaged in the earthquakes. Unfortunately for us this work is due to start on our road next week. Between that and the building work going on next door (rebuilding a house which fell down) and behind (repairing that one) it is going to make Edinburgh seem peaceful :o( However, at least these roadworks should be over within 8 weeks and only outside our house for one week which is definitely an improvement! Anyway, we were uncomfortable at the thought of letting the cats out when the roadworks are on our street but also don't want to keep them in for that long as it is so hot some days (sorry!) we really need to be able to open the doors and windows! And so the cat enclosure is a very enticing prospect. For us, anyway!
Today we had our first decent outdoorsy day. Andy went for a run in the hills to the south of the city and was like a kid in a sweetie shop, Chris joined an outdoors social group for a trip round a mountain bike track and held the side up for the girls by being fitter than most of the men who were there - go girls! Tomorrow will be back to sensible stuff but all the while planning the next outdoors outing.
Thursday 31 January 2013
Full day number 1......
...... and the sun is shining! It was REALLY hot yesterday (sorry folks, really not trying to boast!) and looks like today might be similar. Just as well Chris brought the sun creams over in November!
Trouble free flights for the rest of our journey and happily (not to mention amazingly) all our luggage arrived in Auckland! Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Chris' Kindle :-( perhaps it may have enjoyed the security checks too much and decided to stay in the UK. Air NZ staff are on the case so hopefully they may be reunited.
Anyway, we also whizzed through Customs with no problem at all, which was a pleasant surprise. The flight to Christchurch was on time and we ended up sitting next to an ex-pat from Glasgow! We have his number so will probably give him a call soon.
Unfortunately the house next door which was about to be rebuilt when we looked at the house in November is still being built so it is really noisy outside - very like being in Grosvenor Street (although without lorries reversing up the road at all hours, thank goodness). Hopefully they won't work in residential areas at weekends.....
Showers and some food later and we felt a bit more human, though poor Andy is choked with a cold and could hardly speak. Not as much of a relief for Chris as you may think (Oi! - Andy (quietly)) as he kept trying to speak; the man just won't take a hint (Oi again! - Andy). Andy gave in to sleep around 9pm, Chris lasting about another half an hour, so quite a respectable effort.
We are in the process of trying to arrange phone and broadband but it will probably take a few weeks to set up. So regular trips to the library to use their broadband for the time being....
Back to the sunshine :-)
Trouble free flights for the rest of our journey and happily (not to mention amazingly) all our luggage arrived in Auckland! Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Chris' Kindle :-( perhaps it may have enjoyed the security checks too much and decided to stay in the UK. Air NZ staff are on the case so hopefully they may be reunited.
Anyway, we also whizzed through Customs with no problem at all, which was a pleasant surprise. The flight to Christchurch was on time and we ended up sitting next to an ex-pat from Glasgow! We have his number so will probably give him a call soon.
Unfortunately the house next door which was about to be rebuilt when we looked at the house in November is still being built so it is really noisy outside - very like being in Grosvenor Street (although without lorries reversing up the road at all hours, thank goodness). Hopefully they won't work in residential areas at weekends.....
Showers and some food later and we felt a bit more human, though poor Andy is choked with a cold and could hardly speak. Not as much of a relief for Chris as you may think (Oi! - Andy (quietly)) as he kept trying to speak; the man just won't take a hint (Oi again! - Andy). Andy gave in to sleep around 9pm, Chris lasting about another half an hour, so quite a respectable effort.
We are in the process of trying to arrange phone and broadband but it will probably take a few weeks to set up. So regular trips to the library to use their broadband for the time being....
Back to the sunshine :-)
Tuesday 29 January 2013
Christchurch here we come!
Pffffffffff, pffffffffftt!
That's the worst of the dust blown off the blog..... Welcome back to any of our previous followers and welcome to any new ones!
Ok, we're not really on tour any more but the blog name can stay for now. Especially as we are mid-journey at the moment.
Our journey started by being checked in by the grumpiest BA staff member we have ever met. She was scowling to begin with, wanted to charge us for extra bags even though our upgrade carries the baggage allowance over all partner flights and so was even more annoyed when she phoned to check and was told that we were indeed allowed all 6 bags (yes, we really did manage to fill 6 though have no idea how!); then she forgot to put the Heathrow baggage tags on the first few, was even less happy (if possible) when Andy questioned it and snapped at me when I looked worried that she would send them through. Like they would end up on the correct bags, aye right! So time will tell if they make it through or not. And she didn't bother asking any security questions or check our hand luggage. Not only must she have got out of bed on the wrong side but I reckon she must have walked into the wall as a result.....
Anyway, flight on time, really nice Air NZ staff in Heathrow made up for the BA strop-fest in Edi and we then sampled the delights of the business class lounge. Must win the lottery.......
Chris was asked in Edinburgh to have a random swab done on her kindle. Only took seconds so no bother. She was then stopped on leaving security in Heathrow to have a random swap on her hand luggage. Again it was very quick so no bother. Then her boarding card was flagged for a (can you guess??) random extra security check before boarding! She checks for signs stuck to her back saying "I'm suspicious, search me" or similar.... Fortunately it was also quick, no rubber gloves involved and her trusty teddy just had a quick swab and no intimate searches either.
A very comfortable and enjoyable flight later and we are currently in the lounge at LAX having made use of their very nice showers and enjoying a beer before the next flight. Bets are off for the likelihood of Chris being searched in Auckland!
Anyway, flight on time, really nice Air NZ staff in Heathrow made up for the BA strop-fest in Edi and we then sampled the delights of the business class lounge. Must win the lottery.......
Chris was asked in Edinburgh to have a random swab done on her kindle. Only took seconds so no bother. She was then stopped on leaving security in Heathrow to have a random swap on her hand luggage. Again it was very quick so no bother. Then her boarding card was flagged for a (can you guess??) random extra security check before boarding! She checks for signs stuck to her back saying "I'm suspicious, search me" or similar.... Fortunately it was also quick, no rubber gloves involved and her trusty teddy just had a quick swab and no intimate searches either.
A very comfortable and enjoyable flight later and we are currently in the lounge at LAX having made use of their very nice showers and enjoying a beer before the next flight. Bets are off for the likelihood of Chris being searched in Auckland!
Monday 17 January 2011
The final days upside down
We went from Arrowtown to Te Anua via Invercargill (it only ads about 3.5 hours to the journey!). We actually drove through Invercargill (best not to stop!) and onto Bluff and Stirling Point, which is the southern most point of the highways. So we have been now been to the furthest north and south points (at least on the highways) of the country. We decided to have lunch at the nearby cafe, where we met the most laid back cat in the country. Very friendly, and seemed permanently half asleep. His name was Fats. Which is a little unfair, he genuinely is big boned! He made us feel very much at home when he decided to join the diners in their lunch by bringing in a half eaten rabbit to play with in the middle of the cafe!
From Te Anau we did a day trip to Doubtful Sound. It may sound like something Andy is responsible for but is really an amazing place. We went on a not cheap but totally worth it cruise/bus/cruise out then cruise/bus/cruise back taking in amazing scenery, dolphins, seals, sand flies and a hydro power station far underground just for good measure. The weather god decided to make up for our previous rain-soaked cancellations by giving us clear blue sky and a fabulous day.
Our next stop was Dunedin. Very hilly, very windy - can't imagine what made them decide to name it after Edinburgh ;o) That said, the gradient of the hills makes Edinburgh seem positively flat. They did a great job with the architecture. For a relatively young city, it did a very good job at looking old - meant in the nicest way! The train station was fabulous (although using Aberdeen granite to build the pillars was perhaps taking Scottish pride a little far!), making us think that they perhaps didn't know Edinburgh so well after all..... There is a statue of Rabbie Burns in the city centre, and we found a pub that not only served decent (real) ale, but had a great range of whiskies, including an Edradour! It was all a bit surreal. We took a tour of the Speights brewery whilst we were there - quite a cool place.
Next and final stop was Christchurch for two nights. We stayed at a hotel there. Like a real hotel with an en-suite, mini fridge and everything! Christchurch didn't show too much damage from the recent earthquake; some buildings were being held up by scaffolding, a few were pretty much demolished, but it was hard to believe it had happened so recently.
We finally, on our 2nd last night, found a pub serving real ale - and we mean real, real ale! Drawn from a proper hand pump! We were very happy.
The next day we both went for a run in the nearby botanic gardens then spent the day wandering around the city, including a visit to the aquarium which also housed a kiwi house, so we finally saw a kiwi (of the feathered variety). Well, sort of, she chose to spend that time digging around in the darkest corner, but it was better than nothing.
Then to finish our trip with another bizarre meeting, we walked out of a restaurant after having some food and Chris looked up to see a German guy who had been staying in the same hostel as us in Motueka (near Abel Tasman, after Christmas) standing nearby. Considering we had been driving around the country and he had been cycling (yes, really!), we had really not expected to see him of all people. But it was a nice surprise, as he is a really nice bloke. He also seemed to have lost as much weight in the last two weeks as we had put on - perhaps there is something to be said for cycling round the country rather than driving!
And so we had to say goodbye to New Zealand. It has been far too short and we have had a fantastic time, meeting lots of great people along the way.
Our 1.5 hour stop in Dubai was a tad tight for time. Although we landed on time, it took almost half an hour to finally get off the plane, and by the time we had speed-walked right around the airport (of course, our gate was in the 2nd last section, so took as long as possible to get to) our flight was already on the final call, leaving us hot, sweaty and a bit stressed, but at least we made it, and better that than the 9 hour delay on the way out! A journey lasting over 30 hours does take it's toll though and we are still recovering.
So that's it, the major travelling over and back in sunny Scotland and back to our house after six months of travelling and fun. If only we were doing something like driving to the French Alps in a few days... oh wait a minute...
From Te Anau we did a day trip to Doubtful Sound. It may sound like something Andy is responsible for but is really an amazing place. We went on a not cheap but totally worth it cruise/bus/cruise out then cruise/bus/cruise back taking in amazing scenery, dolphins, seals, sand flies and a hydro power station far underground just for good measure. The weather god decided to make up for our previous rain-soaked cancellations by giving us clear blue sky and a fabulous day.
Our next stop was Dunedin. Very hilly, very windy - can't imagine what made them decide to name it after Edinburgh ;o) That said, the gradient of the hills makes Edinburgh seem positively flat. They did a great job with the architecture. For a relatively young city, it did a very good job at looking old - meant in the nicest way! The train station was fabulous (although using Aberdeen granite to build the pillars was perhaps taking Scottish pride a little far!), making us think that they perhaps didn't know Edinburgh so well after all..... There is a statue of Rabbie Burns in the city centre, and we found a pub that not only served decent (real) ale, but had a great range of whiskies, including an Edradour! It was all a bit surreal. We took a tour of the Speights brewery whilst we were there - quite a cool place.
Next and final stop was Christchurch for two nights. We stayed at a hotel there. Like a real hotel with an en-suite, mini fridge and everything! Christchurch didn't show too much damage from the recent earthquake; some buildings were being held up by scaffolding, a few were pretty much demolished, but it was hard to believe it had happened so recently.
We finally, on our 2nd last night, found a pub serving real ale - and we mean real, real ale! Drawn from a proper hand pump! We were very happy.
The next day we both went for a run in the nearby botanic gardens then spent the day wandering around the city, including a visit to the aquarium which also housed a kiwi house, so we finally saw a kiwi (of the feathered variety). Well, sort of, she chose to spend that time digging around in the darkest corner, but it was better than nothing.
Then to finish our trip with another bizarre meeting, we walked out of a restaurant after having some food and Chris looked up to see a German guy who had been staying in the same hostel as us in Motueka (near Abel Tasman, after Christmas) standing nearby. Considering we had been driving around the country and he had been cycling (yes, really!), we had really not expected to see him of all people. But it was a nice surprise, as he is a really nice bloke. He also seemed to have lost as much weight in the last two weeks as we had put on - perhaps there is something to be said for cycling round the country rather than driving!
And so we had to say goodbye to New Zealand. It has been far too short and we have had a fantastic time, meeting lots of great people along the way.
Our 1.5 hour stop in Dubai was a tad tight for time. Although we landed on time, it took almost half an hour to finally get off the plane, and by the time we had speed-walked right around the airport (of course, our gate was in the 2nd last section, so took as long as possible to get to) our flight was already on the final call, leaving us hot, sweaty and a bit stressed, but at least we made it, and better that than the 9 hour delay on the way out! A journey lasting over 30 hours does take it's toll though and we are still recovering.
So that's it, the major travelling over and back in sunny Scotland and back to our house after six months of travelling and fun. If only we were doing something like driving to the French Alps in a few days... oh wait a minute...
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