Our last day in New Zealand and one of nostalgia. In the last 38 days we have seen all that New Zealand has to offer and loved every minute of it. We have really grown to love the place and the people. The Kiwi’s are really friendly, genuine, helpful and fun people, I couldn’t say enough of them. We have covered 2 very different islands, travelled aprox. 3,253km of road, over 57 hours of bus travel, stayed in 15 different towns/villages/cities and 17 different hostels. In our travels we have seen some of the most amazing raw scenery: craggy coastlines, flourishing forests, snow-capped mountains, glacier fed lakes and unparalleled wildlife all beneath a brilliant blue sky (most of the time). We have often travelled for hours on a bus and see one car but millions of sheep and green land. The New Zealand landscape has many similarities to home except; where we have rivers New Zealand has crystal clear blue lakes, where we have hills New Zealand has beautiful snow capped mountains, where we have rock and stone New Zealand has geothermal springs and geysers, where we have housing estates and shopping centres New Zealand has national parks and wildlife reserves! Other than that they are pretty similar! Apart from the breath-taking scenery in New Zealand individually/together we have experienced some of the most amazing sensations and thrills of our lives. Between us we have, leapt off a 192metre tower in Auckland, jumped out of a plane over Lake Taupo, dropped over the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world at Rotorua, drifted through the world famous glow-worm caves in a big black rubber ring at Waitomo, hiked through the Franz Joseph glacier, completed a bungy at the first ever bungy site in the world at Queenstown and swam with dolphins in Kiakoura.
We have done a hell of a lot. Personally I have done things I taught I would never be able to do such as jump out of a plane at 15,000 feet and survive!! Or complete a bungy without the need for an anaesthetic! Growing up one dreams and imagines what their future will be like and what they would like to achieve, to attend the greatest sporting events in the world, carve out a successful career and family life, watch their beloved team win a competition, make loads of money, lead a happy life are all but some of peoples goals/dreams. One of my goals/dreams was to travel the world with my mates and to see the most beautiful places in the world and experience the different cultures and people. Since leaving Ireland we have managed to go some way to achieving that goal. Our dreams are no longer confined to our sleep, everyday we wake up living out our dreams.
Back to the grassroots of the blog. Today we were invited to a fry up in Dave and Claire’s new gaf in Christchurch, a nice apartment near town. We bought some supplies and met Dave outside ‘The Bog’ from where he escorted us to his lush apartment. We chatted, watched Home & Away and gobbled down Dave’s fine fry up. Yum Yum!! To bring back the glory days in the Bish we headed to the park for a kick about. Of course the kick-about didn’t entertain us long enough and we wanted more competition so we played 2 on 2 with conor safeguarding the goals. After a series of games; involving numerous spectacular goals such as bicycles, scissor kicks, half volleys and headers in the belting heat; we chill-laxed in the shade. We returned to Dave’s gaf to grab a glass of fluid and say our goodbyes. Great to meet an auld Bish head.
The evening was spent on the net sorting out a few things for Sydney, checking up on home and downloading Prison Break. After being amazed at another excellent instalment of Prison Break we dined in a beautiful Indian to discuss and debate in detail each scene in the episode. Can’t wait for next weeks episode already!
Tomorrow we depart for Sydney and inside I’m sad to be leaving New Zealand but excited about the next leg of the journey and what lays in store across the Tasman Sea.
Kia Ora (It is life)
Tom
We have done a hell of a lot. Personally I have done things I taught I would never be able to do such as jump out of a plane at 15,000 feet and survive!! Or complete a bungy without the need for an anaesthetic! Growing up one dreams and imagines what their future will be like and what they would like to achieve, to attend the greatest sporting events in the world, carve out a successful career and family life, watch their beloved team win a competition, make loads of money, lead a happy life are all but some of peoples goals/dreams. One of my goals/dreams was to travel the world with my mates and to see the most beautiful places in the world and experience the different cultures and people. Since leaving Ireland we have managed to go some way to achieving that goal. Our dreams are no longer confined to our sleep, everyday we wake up living out our dreams.
Back to the grassroots of the blog. Today we were invited to a fry up in Dave and Claire’s new gaf in Christchurch, a nice apartment near town. We bought some supplies and met Dave outside ‘The Bog’ from where he escorted us to his lush apartment. We chatted, watched Home & Away and gobbled down Dave’s fine fry up. Yum Yum!! To bring back the glory days in the Bish we headed to the park for a kick about. Of course the kick-about didn’t entertain us long enough and we wanted more competition so we played 2 on 2 with conor safeguarding the goals. After a series of games; involving numerous spectacular goals such as bicycles, scissor kicks, half volleys and headers in the belting heat; we chill-laxed in the shade. We returned to Dave’s gaf to grab a glass of fluid and say our goodbyes. Great to meet an auld Bish head.
The evening was spent on the net sorting out a few things for Sydney, checking up on home and downloading Prison Break. After being amazed at another excellent instalment of Prison Break we dined in a beautiful Indian to discuss and debate in detail each scene in the episode. Can’t wait for next weeks episode already!
Tomorrow we depart for Sydney and inside I’m sad to be leaving New Zealand but excited about the next leg of the journey and what lays in store across the Tasman Sea.
Kia Ora (It is life)
Tom
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