Ticky touring around Banks Peninsular

Tuesday 27th February

It’s raining outside, I hope its not going to be a dull day. I am still feeling a bit twisted inside. Homesickness – knowing my parents are leaving tomorrow. Part of me wants to go back with them, but I know I need to get through this difficult stage and sort something out. Or have I had enough of the travel thing? Or do I just loath Christchurch? I have nothing planned now until mid May where I need to be in Florida for my friends’ Wedding. I have a ticket out of New Zealand in mid March to South America but at the moment I don’t feel ready to leave New Zealand – yes I am contradicting myself I know. I don’t know what I want right now. Home isn’t the solution and I am not ready for South America. I don’t really think I want to go to South America, I think I would rather do Central America if I can change my ticket. Let’s see. Perhaps I will feel better in a few days once I sort out my head. People say its the ups and downs of travel. I am going through one of those phases of questioning whether I am travelling just for the sake of it, but remember this is a one in a lifetime experience and I must not bomb it because I am having a few homesick days, not yet anyway. I knew this would be the hardest point of the journey so far, and I wasn’t wrong. So today my parents full final day we ticky toured around banks Peninsular – an hour or so drive from ChristChurch, stopping off for a cup of tea at little Britain – or should I say Little River before arriving at the quaint french settlement of Aorokura and taking in the wonderful tourist drive around banks Peninsular. Both myself and my mum really enjoyed it, whilst my dad had a nanna nap for most of the journey. The scenic drive will stick in our minds, a good 20km or so around never ending bends to panormaic views of the peninsular with not another vehicle in sight. I thought this is what is called a “Tourist Trap” when a road never ends, its there to trap tourists – right at the end is a big Whale Pot where they capture all the silly tourists who take this road, they mix them up in the big pot and feed them to the whales. Lovely. How wrong was I? At the end of the scenic route a nice cafe greated us, on the menu a nice pot of tea for two, a long black with milk and some nice apple stuff to share – simply delicious. I swapped hostels – much much more friendly than the YHA. Not quite the luxury standard of some of the other hostels but friendly with the owner showing my parents around the hostel as much as myself. I was in a four dorm but a four dorm with its own sky TV, own kitchenette with microwave and en suite bathroom. The room even had a couple of sofas in it for good measure. Can’t really complain. Really.