nearly over....

Well, today (Thursday) is my 2nd last day in New Zealand as I fly home on Saturday.  I am giving a talk to the Christchurch Tramping Club in town tonight and have added a lot of the information I have gained in my 5 weeks here so I hope it makes sense to them!  Today, I went for my last swim here  - in the 25m indoor pool this time as there were 700 children in the outdoor facility - end of term school trips - then did some Christmas shopping.  I have to admit that I don't feel Christmassy yet as it is back up to 19 degrees and very sunny today.  No doubt I will do when I get back to the minus 8 degree temperatures at home.  Everyone here has commented on how awful the UK weather is and how their petrol prices have gone up here in NZ as the result of the demands being placed on oil in frozen Europe...It is still half the price that it is in the UK though.

View from the window of the house in Governors Bay where I am staying: