26 July 2006
End of Act 1, Scene 1
That was NZ! All that we expected, and more. Actually a bit sad that it is over already, but hey, there's more to come elsewhere.Since our last post, on arrival at Christchurch, we headed once again into the mountains to the nearby thermal pools at Hanmer Springs where we soaked ourselves in pools of varying temperatures and mineral composition. Very relaxing and healthy, so we have been told. What took our breath away was the whole concept of soaking in these pools against the backdrop of the snowclad peaks.
And then back to Christchurh for a wander around the city that is modelled on a mix of Oxford and Cambridge interspersed with parkland and heritage architecture. Later that afternoon, we set off to a Wildlife reserve where we were treated to a Maori cultural performance including the "Haka" which we had the opportunity to learn and try. Great recreations of a Maori tribal dwelling and the whole process of (noisily) challenging and then welcoming strangers, followed by some really good folk music. This was followed by a night crawl around the reserve to view the quintessential Kiwi bird and few other local residents in what was a dark and bone chilling night. A perfect final night in NZ nevertheless.
The next day we packed our bags and afer some more last minute city walking and window shopping made our way to the airport for our flight back to Sydney.
If you haven't been to NZ yet, highly recommended and not to be missed.
# posted by Karthik & Isabel @ Wednesday, July 26, 2006 
