Day 134 & 135 - Auckland to Birmingham

All checked out by 10am and got a few hours to wait before heading off to the airport, so hung around the hostel and played pool.

Got to the airport at about 1.30pm and unfortunately my first flight (Auckland to Sydney) was delayed an hour and a quarter. Landed into Sydney with 45 minutes to spare before my next flight so i ran through the airport to my next gate and it seems i ran the full length of the airport, got the gate 20 minutes before the scheduled departure only to find that flight had been delayed 30 minutes too. On the plane for my second flight (Sydney-Bangkok-Dubai), and settled in for 17 hours on board. Surprisingly it was quite comfortable, 9 hours to Bangkok, 1 hour sat there to refuel and then 7 hours to Dubai. Arrived into Dubai with 2 hours to spare which i was pleased about as i didn't fancy running through Dubai airport because its absolutely massive. A nice hour or so relaxing in Dubai before another 7 hour flight back to Birmingham. Amazingly all this time sat on planes and having quite a bit of room, at one point 3 seats to myself, i didn't manage to sleep at all so needless to say after 35 hours of travelling i expected to be tired when i got back. My brother very kindly picked me up from the airport and dropped me back home, i had planned to get straight to sleep but somehow i was still quite awake so went to my brothers for dinner and to see my two nephews who i've missed quite a bit and it looked like they'd missed me too.

I am truly amazed at how quick the past four and a half months have gone, there were definitely times when i wanted to be home but 99% of the time it was absolutely amazing. I have seen some cultural aspects and learned some history that shocked me, I have seen some truly stunning places, I have done some activities i never thought i was capable of, but most of all i have met some amazing people and made some great friends and i just hope i can keep in contact with them.

Days 132 & 133 - Auckland

I spent my last 2 days in Auckland relaxing, reading, ambling around and mainly job searching.

I did take a break to play a bit of pool and played a guy who looked a bit serious, had his own cue and everything. I beat him 6-4 and found out afterwards he plays snooker at a national level. Needless to say i felt a bit smug after that. Possible new career???

Day 131 - Taupo to Auckland

Couldn't sleep and was awake from 5am, eventually got out of bed at 7am as i didn't want to disturb my roommates. Did a bit of reading while waiting for the bus which was 35 minutes late, not sure why but can't blame the traffic as Taupo is tiny.

A long day on the bus from 9am until 3pm which a short stop at Matamata, the gateway to Hobbiton, a cool town which several buildings made up to look like Hobbit holes.

A 15 minute walk to my hostel where i have a room all to myself, can't wait to get a decent nights sleep. Only 3 more nights and I'll be heading home!

Days 129 & 130 -Taupo

Spent most of my two days in Taupo walking around but not much as it seems to have gone back in time and became winter again, alot of rain, strong winds and hail!

Wanted to do the Tongariro Crossing which is basically a 19-20km hike across a live volcano, unfortunately due to the weather it had been cancelled for the next few days.

Did a bit of souvenir/gift shopping, saw a marching band through the town which was nice. Alot of coffee drinking and people watching and reading, thought it would be a nice idea to read the JRR Tolkien books as I'm in New Zealand, just finished The Hobbit and now on The Fellowship of The Ring.

Day 128 - Wellington to Taupo

On the bus for 8am and it's only a small group of about 12 now, apparently it's always quieter heading back up to Auckland.
Stopped for a lunch stop on the side of the road, i think the driver suddenly realised that she had to stop for her legally required 30 minute break.

Got to Taupo at about 3pm and went out for a walk, went down to the lake and say watching people attempt the hole in one competition, about 100 yards onto a tiny rock hard platform in the lake, i can only see one possible way of actually getting it in the hole and that's landing straight in because the platform is like concrete, it's never going to stop and roll on it.

Then a few drinks and relaxing on the night. Looking forward to hone now and especially those last few nights in Auckland when I've got my own room.

Small group
Weird stop
Hole in one
Reading

Days 126 & 127 - Wellington

Not much to tell for these two days, muscles are hurting too much to do anything really. So just two days of reading (thought i should read Lord of the Rings as I'm in New Zealand), job hunting, cinema and the occasional short walk.

Day 125 - Wellington

A nice lay in this morning until 10.30, mainly because the clocks have gone forward. The weather is looking much better, bright sunshine but still windy, apparently it's always windy in Wellington.

I've gone for an ambitious plan for the day, trying to take in as many sights as possible working my way to the fat side of the city and if need be I'd catch the bus back.

Started off by heading down to Civic Square and saw the Town Hall and Gallery which was, shall we say, interesting. One particular exhibit was about time i think and consisted of a room which a constantly moving machine and 5 video walls and played about 20 minutes, still have no idea what i actually watched to be honest. Another exhibit was described as middle earth on steroids.

From there i headed to the Wellington and Maritime Museum which again was good.

Then i went to see the Government buildings including the Beehive, then onto the Cathedral which was just ugly, looked quite new and boring, almost just plain concrete. From there i went to see Old St Pauls which was a lovely old timber Church in middle of new high rises, much nicer than the Cathedral.

Now it was time to head back to the hostel and although i was hurting i decided to forgo the bus and to walk/hobble back, an hour later i finally got back for a much needed rest, at least if i don't feel upto it tomorrow i know I've at least ticked alot of boxes today. Unfortunately I've just looked at the photos I've took today and 95% of them have been corrupted so i won't be able to show you how lovely this city is.

Spent the evening relaxing my sore muscles and finishing my book.