Day 74 – Back to the North

Plan for today was to drop off the car then head back into Christchurch to do a bit of exploring before our late afternoon flight.

Dropped off the car and dealt with all the accident associated paperwork. They got a quote for the damage there and then and as it was less than the excess just charged me for that. They were pretty good about it so all in all not as bad as it could have been.

Before we got a lift to the airport we stopped off at a mini golf course, located just up the road. Good little course that saw Tom get even in the mini golf games; damn those barrels!

Having a late flight had the potential to cause a few issues with picking up the car and getting to our accommodation in time, so when we got the option to get an earlier flight we took it. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the city but it the run last night was something and now I have something to return and see. With the odd hour or so that we had to kill we took a walk to the nearby Antarctic Centre. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the Penguins as it was a rip off. Had a coffee instead.

Arriving in Auckland early meant we could pick up the car without hassle and hit the road in the remaining daylight. Got to see some amazing corpuscular rays cutting through the clouds and onto the mountains.

Arriving in Raglan I was astounded at the towns beauty and surrounding scenery. I was even more surprised to find out that Raglan is a world renowned surf spot with something called as “awesome left hand break”, according to Justice the receptionist. I booked it for its location and free use of kayaks and bikes.

We’d arrived just as all the shops in town began closing so we had to eat out. The local pub did us proud with a couple of stunning burgers.

Need a early night tonight as we’ve booked up half a day of surf lessons for tomorrow morning. Got to get some practice in before I meet up with Sandy in Australia.