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Packing our suitcases has become a recurring theme of this trip. We’re never in one place for more than a couple of days. While there are some young gappers out there who might look down their noses at such an approach, I’m of the view that with relative brevity comes greater intensity and willingness to absorb.
There really isn’t a whole lot in Auckland for two weary travellers nearing the end of a very long trip and on foot. The standard of living here is amongst the highest in the world, and I can believe that. It just seems, however, that New Zealand’s relationship with the city concept is somewhat unnatural from the outset.
Day after day we had been wowed by the transcendent beauty which encapsulates every inch of the South Island of New Zealand. The question arose – what could possibly surpass it? What could act as the most fitting of conclusions to our time here? True culmination would only come in one form.
Like many people, I do enjoy some of the world’s great urban areas. Cities are intrinsically fascinating. They are centres of culture and human endeavour. Whatever your field and whatever you’re passionate about, there’s something seductive about the fast paced, pioneering lifestyle only to be found in a metropolitan setting.
Morning is a temperamental time in the mountains of the South Island. The cold is piercing, and the greyness depressing. But nothing in nature stays the same for very long, and usually by lunch time the sun has started coming out and you’re in the midst of a bright, attractive day. This was the story as we drove back north to Queenstown.
