So the adventure turned out to be a bit more of an adventure than we planned.
NZ is very dependent on tourism and of course they are worried that overseas visitors will stop coming after the Christchurch earthquake. In the paper today they said that the number of visitors from Japan and other parts of SE Asia were dropping. Their tourist info organisation is superb. Every town has an I-site which has excellent staff who will advise on hikes, walks, trips, places to stay, drives to take and has loads and loads of free maps, guides and leaflets.
We've had a variety of accommodation mostly motels. The best place was Quest serviced apartments in Napier the Art Deco town, luxury. The worst the place in Timaru and horrible motel in Wanaka Lake. Both on the day bookings. Napier was fascinating, they really only recognized it's uniqueness in the 1980s and still don't seem to be strict enough about preservation - a bit too laid back in this case!
What has driven me crazy is the dreadful Internet connections. As an example I've just loss the last 30 mins typing this last post as the connection dropped so I will just have to tell you the last few thoughts when we all catch up somewhere some time. I'll finish now before it does it again. Thanks to those who followed and hope it wasn't all deadly boring
Love Sally and Dave xxx
We land 1.20pm Uk time on Sunday. This has been the most fantastic trip and we are already thinking about a return visit. We feel we've left a little bit of our hearts in Christchurch and we wish this lovely city a speedy regeneration.
Love from Sally and Dave
Not boring at all - was fun to share it all with you and bring back my own memories of a superb country. Can't wait to take Will there when he is old enough to appreciate it!! Safe journey home, lots of love xxx
ReplyDeleteWelcome home! I've really enjoyed it all. Thanks for sharing it and can't wait to see the pictures. You've really whet our appetites to visit- Sally
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