Final Blog from NZ

Saturday 26 February

Today we have driven along the famous State Highway 73 from Greymouth to ChCh passing through the Otira Gorge and Arthur's Pass. For most of the middle part of the journey the train line runs parallel with the road so we were able to see some of the scenery that we would have seen from the train. In fact the train disappears into a tunnel before Arthur's Pass so it's possible to see more from the road (some compensation for missing our trip on the Trans-Alpine Express). We stopped at a view point in the Otira Gourge and saw three Kea Birds (A type of parrot) apparently they only live in this part of NZ and there are only about 5000 of them left, so seeing them was a treat!

Many roads in NZ have single track bridges and this is rarely a problem as the traffic is so light, however today we came across a single track bridge that also carries a railway line, which we thought was perhaps stretching things a little far! Apart from the scenery State Highway 73 also seems to be famous for the quality of it's pie shops. We had very nice pies at Arthur's Pass and could have also stopped for pies in Sheffield and several other places!

We weren't in a hurry to get to ChCh as you can imagine, so we also stopped and walked around some rather interesting large boulders, or limestone outcrops, as they are officially called. Basically they look like handfuls of enormous pebbles scattered down a hillside.

The mountains in this last part of the journey across the Southern Alps looked like no others we have seen. The rock face looked like cement had been poured on it from the top, very strange! Everywhere we have been in NZ we have seen something new and completely unspoilt and today was no exception.

We are now in a rather nice small hotel near ChCh airport. Steve has filled the car with petrol (not without difficulty as petrol is being rationed) and we are packing and getting ready for an early night because we have a very early start in the morning for our 6.15am flight to Melbourne. Can't wait to be there now and see Rod and Suzanne again. It was always going to feel good to see them again after two years but given the situation here in NZ, it has unfortunately put a black shadow over the last few days here and we are ready to leave.

It's been a wonderful experience – definitely a holiday of a lifetime for both of us!

See you in Oz!