Leaving New Zealand

It's been over two weeks since my last blog, so apologies to regular readers (both of them) but I'm now in Melbourne and before I update on my Australian adventures, I thought it best to finish off with New Zealand.

Since I left you, I've been hiking around Mt Cook, the highest mountain in NZ; wildlife spotting in the Caitlins, where I nearly ran over a penguin and got up close and personal with a sea lion; hiked 50 kms in a 2-day walk along the beautiful coastal Queen Charlotte Walk; and raced the car back to Auckland.

New Zealand had spectacular scenery, and I really enjoyed my time there and at some stage I hope to go back to do some more walks that take a few days. Auckland was pretty dull, and I begrudge the time I spent there but Wellington seemed like a city with more going on. In some ways I thought it still felt like a frontier mentality - car culture is dominant and there is literally next to no public transport, if the media is any guide agriculture is the only industry worth bothering about and there were just too many anti-tax anti-government bumper stickers not to remind you of mid-west USA. But the tourist industry is incredibly entrepreneurial, and as they sell themselves very well it's incredibly easy to be a tourist and you'll end up having a great time whatever you choose to do.

Things I have learnt:

• The mullet is fashionable again amongst young men in Australia (then again,
  perhaps it never went out of fashion)