Day 2/3. Saturday/Sunday 8th November/9th November 2003
Singapore - Christchurch

Had a bit of backache, well it's understandable after that flight. Painkillers seem to be keeping it at bay though, otherwise feeling pretty good. Singapore Airport was nothing like I expected it to be, quite calm and serene. I was expecting busy, busy, busy. Jeff was a bit put-off by the 'no toilet' toilets but overcame this problem through necessity. Flight to Christchurch a smaller plane but just as nice as previous plane. Dinner, a choice of Green Thai Curry or some kind of fish. Time is 05:00hrs NZ (Midnight Singapore) and who knows what back home, well about 17:00hrs. Just going over the Indian Ocean and Australia. I can't believe how many countries I've had a glimpse of in the last 24 hours (Middle East, Nepal, India, the Far East, and now Australia). Trying to get some sleep in a moment to try and adjust to NZ time. I think I'll be dead on my feet tomorrow—6hours and 14mins to go!

11:10hrs, 8th November, first sight of NZ from plane window. Saw white mountains sticking up out of the clouds, couldn't make out what was clouds and mountains at first. Amazing white peaks, really craggy. Jeff excited, taking pictures already.

11:40hrs got out of the airport really quickly, although they were quite thorough on checking our walking boots for seeds. Got a lift straight away to the camper office, picked up the van, a nice new VW—dead pleased as it did have the CD player we'd hoped for, and brought discs for. In the afternoon, started getting really tired and feeling a little off, I'm guessing a mixture of tiredness and jetlag.

First we decided to drive through Christchurch to the gondola, to see if it was worth the planned visit later. We decided it wasn't that impressive and pulled up in the Gondola car park. Used the in-van shower for the first time (I can smell the lemon shower gel now), and decided to do some food shopping. Found a big supermarket and got what we needed. Made our way back to town centre and parked on the outskirts of Hagley Park (it reminded me a bit of our local park). Took a walk by the river and saw some people being punted around. Went and saw the cathedral, saw trams, and just had a gentle wander around the area. Went to the motor camp as planned, it was nice and clean, and friendly. Went to bed at 9pm as both shattered and slept well.