Tomorrow we head out for Australia at the ripe time of 6:45am. Don’t forget to check in two hours beforehand too. Why bother sleeping tonight???
New Zealand has been a fantastic place. The buildings are a neat blend of old and new, with many splashes of colour, that make the buildings at home look boring. The people are good humoured, and very friendly. This actually suprised me, but makes sense as the country of this size is pretty tight knit.
We logged about 1900 km (and 36 hours) of bus time, and the 100 km ferry across the Cook Strait. Getting around is very easy, and can be done at decent prices once you are here, whether you want to bus, rent a car/van, or even buy a car for a short while. As for accommodations, we mostly were in YHA Hostels across the country, which are very clean, and are used by young and old travellers alike. Getting a Hostilling International membership (or something equivalent) is a good idea.
The only thing is convenience food (snacks) were fairly pricey. For what they are, their dollar is a little high on the currency conversion. A 600 mL bottle of pop will be about $2.50NZ, and a chocolate bar or something like a small chips will be $1.50 to $2NZ. But supermarket groceries have been comparable.
So here’s the Australian checklist of what I hope to see, more or less:
- koala
- kangaroo
- rugby (didnt see it here, but there is still hope)
- boomerang
- platypus
- Sydney Opera House
- Great Barrier Reef
Oh and also, at work Chris M and Jon T are locked at 99 foosball wins each. Who will walk away with 100 wins bragging rights? I’ll be the last to know!