RAIN

Friday 5^th November 2010 (remember, remember the 5^th November gun powder, treason and plot!)

MP3 track of the day: Remember, remember

If you are looking for Thursdays post then it is below this one.

Weather: Miserable and wet in Oamaru and even worse in Christchurch … most definitely the worst day of the weather I've had since I've been in New Zealand, and possibly the worst since I've been traveling (I like to think that the south island is sad to see me leave).

When I eventually got in from seeing the penguins last night, I went back to my hostel, got through the front door after the third attempt at the combination lock, and was greeted by five old people, in the living room, sitting on the couch by the fire. At first I thought I had stumbled into the wrong building but then I noticed the 'Youth Hostel Signs' and I thought that they had stumbled into the wrong building. Luckily though no one else had checked into the dorm I was staying in and so I had the room to myself for the night.

My coach wasn't as early as most others and so I had a semi-leisurely morning until I had to get to the bus stop at 9:30am. The coach driver didn't do any running commentary for my final long distance coach ride in New Zealand; the journey was pretty uneventful, until we had almost got to the bus stop within Christchurch city center and the driver decided to scratch the side of his coach along a truck. This added a few minutes to the journey but no other dramas.

It was throwing it down in Christchurch and so I headed to the hostel I had booked myself into, the YHA Central. Located just around the corner from the Coachman (where I stayed last week) the YHA turned out to be cheaper this time as the Coachman had put their prices up for the high season.

I got into my dorm and had the pick of the beds. I didn't stay long in the YHA as it was 2:30pm and I hadn't had any lunch. I went out into the cold, wet day where, after lunch, I went to the local library to use their free internet to check myself onto the flight to Auckland tomorrow, all is good.

After this I returned to the YHA (to find someone trying to sleep in my dorm at 4pm!) to have a shower. After a lovely long shower I then head back out into town and got my tea (fish and chips) before settling in for a quite night by the TV (I'm so old).

Today has been all about getting to Christchurch to get my flight to Auckland tomorrow. So far so good, but I am totally gutted to be leaving the fantastic and beautiful land the Kiwi's call the south island. Mount Cook, Lake Tekapo, Milford Sound, Franz Joseph, Wanaka, Queenstown take your pick! The whole place is stunning and I am going to miss it all.

My average has gone up to £39.00 per day; I'm actually quite amazed that my average is still below my £40 per day budget considering, this past week, I've taken quite a few bus journey's, spend £35 on souvenirs and generally found it difficult to keep to my budget per day. Still this amount doesn't include my flight tomorrow so I may still go over my budget right at the very end of my trip … I hope not as I've tried so hard to keep to it!