Kia Ora!

{Live* from New Zealand}

* Change of plans. The Internet is more accessible than I was expecting and with long bus rides I've been able to write all my posts. Plus this way you don't have to read two posts that are pretty much the same thing :)

Kia Ora is an native Kiwi greeting literally translated as 'be well' or 'be healthy.'

Wednesday:

After two (!) attempted landings, I've finally touched down in Christchurch, New Zealand! It's 1 a.m. and our bus doesn't leave till 7. Katie, Bekah and I are camping out at the airport, reading travel brochures. Now I've finally found time to read Water for Elephants. I was planning on making the book last the whole trip but it's such a quick read. I kept waiting for the book to live up to the hype. The ending was exciting but that's all I'll say for those who have yet to read it. Overall a good book and I'm keen to see what the movie reviews say.

Walking to the bus was an enchanting moment; to my left was a dark blue sky and full moon and to my right was the rising Sun's ray turning the sky pink and light blue. The sights only get better. NZ really is as beautiful as people say. It's autumn in the Southern Hampshire and you can tell. The nights are colder and the leaves are falling-perfect cardigan and Sperrys weather.

This bus ride is gorgeous. We are passing farms, rolling hills and a lot of sheep. Fun fact: NZ's population is 4.4 million people while sheep population is about 40 million. That's about ten sheep for every one person! A great but unexpected perk is the bus stops a lot for breaks in highlight towns along the route. We stopped at Kaikoura, marine wildlife hot spot, for a walk along the rocky beach. Whale watching is the main attraction with 15 different species having been seen off the shore along with dolphins and seals. Large seal colonies were lying on the rocks as we drove pass. We also stopped at Blenheim in the wine country. Now we are continuing on to Nelson. 

The scenery has been diverse from rolling hills to ocean coastlines to mountain valleys. I can't wait to start this journey.

Cheers for now,

Kim