I had a little holiday and had a FANTASTIC time in the South Island of New Zealand for 6 nights! It is such a beautiful place! I enjoyed myself so much that I had a few tears in the aeroplane on the way home! I went over alone and was to travel, the next day, down to Wanaka to meet my boyfriend and his companions. They were there earlier than me, because we were all going to a big airshow, but I couldn't leave for it as early in the week as them. I arrived safely in NZ at nearly midnight on the Thursday before Easter and the nice man from my guest house, in Christchurch, came to pick me up, so I felt safe and cared for. On my bus tour, on the way to meet Stephen and the others, I went on a ski plane flight at Mt Cook and landed on Tasman Glacier and got out and walked on the snow!
When I got to Wanaka, Stephen saw me walking outside our accommodation and came out to meet me! The airshow was exciting and I flew in an old DC3. I also got to sit in the cockpit of one of the NZ Airforce’s aerobatics aircraft and the pilot’s seat of a big airforce Hercules transport.
Whilst in Wanaka, even though there were many people, I managed to catch up with other Australian friends, including a guy from WA that I hadn’t seen for years (even though we had no way of contacting each other – we just found each other!) and some other folks I wanted to see from Australia, whom I hadn’t met before, but arranged over the internet to meet in an Irish pub! Fortunately, Stephen had met one of the guys who was there first and recognized him for me!
Stephen and his friends were good to me and even put up with a drive, on the way back to Christchurch, out to where Phar Lap was born, and the next morning, a visit to the Botanic Gardens!
hi janice,my computer's been out of action for a few days-i just read the comment that you left for me and had to come up and see your mention of phar lap . It sounds as though you had a terrific time-even teary at leaving-sounds like this won't be your last trip over there .
It was fantastic and I'd love to return! AC...do it! It only takes a few hours to fly over (that is, from Australia!) and it's such a lovely place to go. I thought it was rather like travelling in Australia...just in a part I'd never been to before. (The scenery is different, but Christchurch felt rather like a Victorian town, with its weatherboard homes. (Victoria, in Australia - for the OS readers!) Some of the shops and businesses are familiar...) Plus, the Aussie dollar is worth more!