Daniel Cann

Well, to be honest it was a nice beach, but nothing special. After all the hype I was expecting, well, I don’t know what I was expecting really. It had all the elements that you associate with a beach, surf, sand and revellers, but nothing that separated itfrom any other beach in the world. I am sure it is the place to be when celebrating the New Year and this is probably where it gets its reputation. It was pleasant and we spent a nicely diverting day there walking, swimming and taking in the sights. It was a quintessentially Aussie day (well, as Europeans would imagine it). Go to the beach, have a few beers and go home when it gets dark.

That evening we had a send off with Lisa and Saffron who were very kindly allowing us to stay at their place in the city. We went for a meal and a few drinks and it was all very relaxed and light hearted. It somehow seemed appropriate to share our last evening in Australia with fellow English travellers and the girls had plenty of stories and fond memories of the place as well.

The next morning was bittersweet as we caught the airport taxi just as the sun was rising giving the city a pleasant look. At the airport we exchanged glances as if to say ‘Here we go again!’ It was a shock to the system to be checking in luggage and getting passports stamped after over three months of staying in a fixed place. We boarded our flight with mixed feelings. It was sad to say goodbye to Australia, a place that had more than lived up to expectation. We had seen some amazing, once in a lifetime things and had met some friendly, warm and funny people on our travels there. Something does happen to you while there. I felt more relaxed and less inhibited in the land down under and a lot of fellow travellers I feel, opened up more to each other because of this. Ben and I just hoped that New Zealand, our next destination would live up to its reputation.

The flight was smooth and the first sight to greet me from my window seat were beautiful mountains and lakes, straight out of a fairy tale or fantasy world. This was at least four years before ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy was filmed here, but with hindsight you can easily see why New Zealand was the obvious choice to film Tolkein’s epic adventure. The scenery was breathtaking.

Once we had landed we were searched for soil (yes soil!) and questioned on whether we had stayed or worked on any farms lately we were allowed to enter the country. I had visions of an antipodean smuggling gang with illegal fruit and vegetables hidden in their cavities, contaminating New Zealand with their illicit soil droppings. It all seemed a little bizarre but I suppose it all helps to keep a balanced eco system. A few years later after experiencing a nasty ‘foot and mouth’ epidemic in my own country I appreciated this more.

The airport shuttle bus took us into Christchurch and our hostel. After a friendly chat with a couple of Canadian girls and another English lad (who all assured us that New Zealand was a great place) we ventured outside. Christchurch reminded me of all those pictures and films I had seen of England in the 1950s. It had the air of a sweet village rather than a major city. Everywhere was spotlessly clean and gardens, hedges, parks and trees were well manicured and tended to. We walked through the Botanical Gardens and sampled New Zealand ale in a pub that was not unlike a typical English pub. I was warming to this new country already although it did seem a little surreal.

We turned in early that night as we had an early start (again!) the next morning as we had booked ourselves on a whistle-stop bus tour of New Zealand (North and South Islands) on the ‘Kiwi Experience.’ Unlike our previous country where we had the luxury of time, we had only given ourselves about a fortnight to enjoy this one. That evening my head swam with thoughts of illegal soil trafficking, Australian beaches and New Zealand mountains.