To quote Lonely Planet, Invercargill is a “flat and lifeless
town” and “a good pit-stop on the way to somewhere else”, however I find that
it is the people who make or break a trip. Flat and lifeless as it may be, the
people waiting there for me were anything but. Seeing Maiyan again after so
much time was lovely beyond measure and it was so much fun getting to know
Chris better. Thanks for everything you two! I had such a lovely time and miss
you guys already!
While in Invercargill, Maiyan and I mostly chatted and
caught up over the last 7 years of our lives! We did some shopping and I
squeezed in few lovely jogs, and then more chatting and more gossiping and
reminiscing.
This carried on for a few days and included a wine and
cheese evening with movies, a grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner and an
afternoon batch of banana bread. After we had exhausted all of what
Invercargill had to offer, we packed up and drove north to Queenstown where we
stayed at Chris’ parents second home. The apartment is in the heart of the city
with one of the loveliest views ever! What an amazing experience! Unimaginable!
The following morning as the sun came up, we were privy to
one of the most breathtaking sunrises probably in existence. Chris made
pancakes and after eating far too many, Maiyan and I took a hike up Queenstown
Hill Walkway. It was so beautiful I decided it was a suitable location to
spread some of Neil’s ashes. I think he would approve. :) 
After our hike we went into explore the adorable downtown.
We spent the day chatting and shopping and I even got a hair trim (TRIM…not
like last time!). After such an eventful day we were quite tired and decided
jammies and a movie was better than a night out on the town. On Friday (my last
day in New Zealand already!! OMG :0) we took a short trip to the nearby town of
Arrowtown where I finally tried a famous kiwi “meat pie”, although it was
slightly underwhelming as there were only veggies and cheese in there.
Chris and Maiyan drove me to the airport and as I gave them
big hugs goodbye I said a little prayer that I was so lucky as to have such
special people in my life. Until next time you two!! I cannot wait to do it
again! :D
So to wrap it up here are my personal plus and delta* (and
only slightly less famous than Lonely Planet’s) points of New Zealand:
|
+
|
Δ
|
|
·
Roads (Aside
from being on the left, they are easy to drive, well marked and well kept.
AKA minimal car-consuming pot holes…)
·
Crumpets (Is
it a pancake? A scone? A biscuit? All three in one?!)
·
Casual clothing style (Casual= Bring on the public display of sweatpants!)
·
Hotels give you free milk and butter cookies
for your tea or coffee upon check in! Brilliant!
|
·
New Zealanders are literally too nice (I can’t cut off conversations with
strangers without feeling rude because they just keep smiling and chatting! So
lovely. Come to think of it, maybe this should go on the + side…)
·
Coffee (It
just really isn’t any good…)
·
It is far from everywhere…literally
EVERYWHERE!
·
Architecture (Kiwi buildings are mostly square, some varying shade of grey or
brown and boring with the occasional gem.)
|
* I say delta rather than “minus” because flat-out saying
something sucks about someone else’s home is insulting. Let’s be civilized
here. ;)
Love and miss you all! Next stop, Sydney, Australia. Catch
you then! :D
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