back at sydney’s airport: 15 minutes after the plane started rolling to the runway, the captain announced “it may feel like we’re driving all the way to new zealand, but we’re not. in fact, we’ll be at the runway in a few minutes!”
i received a warm welcome to new zealand by julieanne and her friend martin, who spent a lot of time showing me around, and …basically made me feel like they were my personal 24-hour-tourguides (i was also staying at julieanne’s).
they took me out on scenic drives around the banks peninsula [G], namely to the port of lyttelton (the location of one of the last working time-balls) and akaroa, a little town way out in the east of the peninsula.
- back in 1840 (the same year that the british claimed the south island), the french created a settlement there and tried to establish a colony. it’s still considered an artsy french town, and still has lots of french place and street names.
