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Hey everyone!
Just thought I would conclude our stories of New Zealand as tomorrow we depart for Sydney, Australia! It will be a shame to leave this quiet but beautiful country, but I'm sure that Australia will be just as good, if not better, after what I've heard from fellow travellers.
Well we returned from Dunedin about a week ago and got on the bus with no problems, unlike the journey down, where Peach made us get up half an hour earlier than necessary as he got the pick-up time confused! We were soon greeted by our friend Debs, whom we met on the Inca trail back in Peru. She very kindly allowed us to stay at her house for a few nights, which we really appreciated. This was because we weren't sharing a room with another 6 people and had the best shower since leaving home. We also chipped in and had chicken stuffed with blue cheese and cranberry on the first night, which after a staple diet of noodles for God knows how long, went down fairly sharpish!
Well we didn't get up to too much during our second stay in Queenstown for our budget's sake. I did get up early to wish my mother a happy birthday, which I hope she appreciated as there is only a narrow window of opportunity to call home unless you're nocturnal!
Later that evening our friend Jenna, who you may have guessed was also a fellow Peruvian trekker and friend of Debs, came round for a catch up. We all had spag bol for tea, which tasted delicious, while we sat and remembered the good old times back in the much warmer climate of Peru.
The next day we went for the best fried breakfast in Queenstown as described by Debs' boyfriend - he wasn't kidding, it was a rather nice treat! Later that day we watched one of the worst films I have ever seen, which was 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back again! The film was called Vinyan just to warn you all - don't watch it unless you like lame plot lines and wasting your life!
On our final day with Debs we wandered the town and went to some of our favourite haunts for old times sake - this being Fergburger just to appreciate the burger that drove Burger King out of town. We also went down to the beach, where the views overlooking the lake and mountains are something to behold.
Later that night we joined Debs and her fellow housemates in a game or two of Singstar - this was a dream come true for Peach as he sang away to his heart's content! I must say that even I enjoyed the sing along - even more so when I beat Peach in a one-on-one sing off! (Peach: What song was this??) (Lloyd: Spin Doctors, 2 princes. Don't get all whiny on me just because you have been singing all the sodding time on this trip!) (Peach: Spin Doctors?!)
The next morning we rose early to get our final Kiwi bus to Christchurch. We stopped off at a couple of spots along the way, including a wonderous site of Mount Cook overlooking a lake with clear blue water, due to the eroding rock minerals that have dissolved into the lake.
After arriving in Christchurch we met up with our friends Lucy and Chanel from our previous Kiwi bus. We've all just been on a peace walk around the city today, where various monuments have been erected to commemorate fallen heroes. One monument was that dedicated to the firemen and women who lost their lives after September 11th, and had some of the actual steel work of the building within the monument, which I found rather touching.
Today is our last full day in New Zealand before we fly on to Sydney tomorrow, which we can't wait for.
I hope that you aren't all too tanned back home! Bye for now
Mike and James
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