The Geeky Brit

So today was very special for me, and also a little bit sad. We traveled to Akoroa, which is a little town across two volcano lava flows from Christchurch. As the crow flies, it is not very far, but the journey was to take us 1.5 hours as we climbed up and down valleys on our way through the lush lava ridges and valleys.

As we wound our ways through the ridges we got to see some amazing views of the countryside, from the flat Canterbury Plains surrounding Christchurch, to the amazing inlets surrounding Akoroa.
As we reached Akoroa, we were both extremely excited. Today we would swim with dolphins. This was something my mum had always wanted to do, so I was sad thinking of her. I also knew she would be smiling at me as I did it, so as I suited up I started to feel happier.

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I think I can predict, that those three words will be a safe summary of the next weeks blog entries.
New Zealand’s history is fairly short when it comes to human involvement. Even the indigenous Maori have only been here for about 900 years. Before that it really was a land devoid of man – and large mammals in general to be honest of you. New Zealand is bird country.

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For our flight from Brisbane to Christchurch, New Zealand we took an airline called Jet Star. On our tickets was a Qantas code, but it turned out to be code share flight with Qantas’ discount subsidiary Jet Star. Oh, my what an experience.

I can summarize thus: Avoid at all costs.

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So we have bid our home for the last two weeks goodbye, and am now on our way to the Britain of the South, New Zealand. We are both excited about this part of the trip, and in many ways this has been the part I am most looking forward to about. This is partly in thanks to the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Peter Jackson’s version of the J.R.Tolkien classic was driven by his love for his native New Zealand. As a boy reading the trilogy, he was struck by how similar the descriptions of Middle Earth were when compared to the view outside his train window as he traveled around New Zealand.

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