Friday! Or as I like to call it welcome escape from Franz Joseph day! Obviously it’s the most beautiful so far, clear skies, some would say utterly perfect helicopter weather…. Cest la vie, eh.

Boarded the Great Sights bus up the coast to Greymouth. They’re bit like New Zealand’s answer to the National Express but with a chatty guide en route and less hungover Geordies. Big comfy coach with wide widows for views and a few stops along the way.

Pitched up in Hokitika for lunch… Everyone takes 4½ seconds to eat here…so lunch break was 40 mins to find a cafe, order, eat not vom and walk back to bus! Pondered if Great Sights might have a sponsorship deal with Gaviscon and tried to ignore the bacon sandwich, still only halfway down my oesophagus, on way back to the bus.

On that, said bacon sandwich arrived, and it was in fried bread! Why, tho!!! I am seeking out salads where humanly poss but this food is full on. Hoping remnants of patched up heart survive this trip!

Journey smooth to station and so glad to see dreamy weather follow us up the coast to board one of the highlights of the Nz part of the trip – the Trans Alpine train.

The Trans Alpine is just one of many scenic trains that wander their way through the Nz countryside. Complete with full scenic carriage, glass sectioned roof and widows all round for making the most of the epic views cross-country. This route is penned as one of the great railway journeys of the world and takes an awe-inspiring trail through the Great Divide – the sublime Southern Alps from West Coast to East and ending in Chirstchuch

And man, was it majestic. Acutely aware that i’ve used that word more since i’ve arrived here than in my previous 35 years combined! But it’s pretty much the only way to sum this place up. Everything is utterly stunningly ridiculous. Mega delayed leaving the station, so we started to lose the sun. We did catch the moon rise (is that a thing?) over Arthur’s peak was pretty amazing. As were the southern alps themselves – shrouded in incredible colours at sunset, smooshed between snow topped peaks. Breathtakingly beautiful, but for lucky Kiwis, the everyday norm.

Thanks to light service and shoulder season a half empty train meant a big ol’ window and also table for 4 to myself in a quiet carriage down the back. Thanks to Matt the train guard for hooking me up with a peaceful seat switch for the 5hrs ahead (gross American’s get everywhere!!!) Don’t ask don’t get eh.

Listened to Mark Hoppus from Blink182s’ autobiography on Audible. There was something so perfectly juxtaposed in looking at scenery beyond your wildest imagination whilst Mark describes him and Tom DeLonge as the Lenon and McCartney of dick jokes.

Think we missed a fair chunk of scenic thanks to earlier delay which was a shame and also perhaps theme of this stop! Last 2 hours just pitch black darkness….ha. Not so scenic! But it was beautiful clear crisp and autumnal whilst it lasted and I managed not to drop my phone out the window of the open air carriage so all in all a successfully journey.

Cafe bar only served, you guessed it, high carbohydrate snacks, so I shovelled in something bread based like the Vicar of Dibley at her 3rd Christmas dinner and prayed green things would be accessible in Christchurch.

Got fleeced for a cab from the train station by local cabbie, John. I knew it was a bad move when he started saying how excited I’d be (being from the UK) to know he once had the 2 sons from Mrs Browns Boys in the back of his cab. Tried the handle for a stop drop and roll out onto the road, in bid to avoid having to feign interest in the story, but it was locked. That shit programme follows me everywhere!

In good news however, seem to have arrived just in time for calm after the storm!!

Saturday was a gloriously sunny 1 day only in Christchurch, and very welcome relief after news reports of wild weather, winds, floods and what can be best described as a shit tonne of storms.

I was very excited to be welcomed to Christchurch by long lost school pal Max Robertson. Max moved to Nz 7 years ago and his recent rousing post about becoming a permanent resident here in Feb was actually what encouraged me to venture to Nz in the first place.

It was so good to see him, hear all the news about his utterly gorgeous life here and get upto speed on the last 17 years! Time flies. Delicious brunch at the Arts Center here in town and left with top tips on what to see and do and how to make the most of my 1 day here.

Thanks for a glorious start to the day Mr Robertson. Wishing you all the best for continued happiness in this hemisphere! Until soon mate.

Took the gondola ride up to Christchurch viewpoint and scenic vistas across the city. Met Jade a fellow solo traveller from Malvern in Worcestershire (“I’m gunna be singing Turn my swag on by Soulja boy, but the Keri Hilson version”!…niche ref for my huns there) Wandered and took mutual snaps for each other with the blissful backdrop and lamented the number of long arm selfies we had in the gallery – a solo traveller curse. She thought I was also in my 20s (you can stay forever!) and then said she hoped she was like me when she’s my age (….i.mean…bit less so now…but it get the lovely sentiment!) #oldladytraveller #steadyonbabe #imnot76

Another day another gondola but it really is a beautiful way to see the sights, city and soak up the views in this ludicrously lush land.

Desended back to downtown and stopped for a drink at Foundation cafe. Plumped for cool refreshing juice – orange or fajoa were the options. Fajoa is a native Nz fruit and pops up a fair few places but i’ve yet to try it. What does fajoa juice taste like? I ask the server….”Ah sort’ve like a Fajoa”……that is unhelpful thank you. Plumped for it anyway and was, unsurprisingly, a fail. I’d best describe it a something you’d be prescribed by a medieval dentist. But you know, new cultures and all that jazz. Live and learn.

Downed my water and boarded the vintage tram for the city tour. 18 scenic stops across the centre, all set to an historic narrated soundtrack courtesy of the driver and guide. The people of Christchurch are clearly wildly passionate about where they live. Much like other cities I’ve visited who are internationally defined by their tragedy (Hiroshima very much the same) the people take real pride in telling recent tales of how they’ve rebuilt. And rebuilt they have, it’s an lovely, friendly place and I can absolutely see why Max moved here.

Next important stop was the Quake city museum . Its a really moving place, full of profound personal accounts and very harrowing depictions of the devastation caused by the earthquakes which destroyed so much of Christchurch in 2010 and 11. And they were massive, hitting a heartbreaking 7.1 and 6.3 magnitude on the richter scale.

Whist a lot of content was a hard read, as i’d been warned, it was important to see and fascinating to reflect on how the city is crawling out of such a dark time and rebuilding where able. The number of inner city car parks however remains a poignant reminder; ghostly gaps in the avenues a profound and permanent nod to the sheer number of buildings completely levelled by the quake.

Since no international travel trip would be complete without a visit to the Botanic Gardens, I headed for a sunset stroll before dinner. Epic and gorgeous as ever…

Then onward to Riverside Market and pulled up a stool at a craft beer wanker brewery pop up, Canterbury Brewers Collective. I’ve got quite into craft beer since being here on account of overdosing on wine in the first week. Plumped for a hazy pale ale (who even am i!) and people watched for a while.

I really loved it here. Much more than perhaps I was prepared to if previous visitors experiences were anything to go by. Maybe it was the sunny day, maybe the contrast from unhinged Franz Joseph, but im so glad I found time to make the pilgrimage.

A particular poignant, personal moment of this all too brief visit, was easily the final exhibit in the earthquake museum…

It was a large wooden carving, nodding to the Maori term “Te Ao HuriHuri.” It means the past is connected to the present, and life needs its difficult events to help us reconsider our path and reshape our future. Whilst clearly intended in relation to the harrowing experiences of the earthquake and not my relationships, it was still a tangible reminder for me that if it wasn’t for all the heartbreak, the imposed awful and the shit things of this past year, I might never be on the other side of the world reading it…I may never have planned this trip to find some much needed, unbridled joy. (It was also inexplicably next to a massive unsubtle poster of a Maersk shipping container, just in case I didn’t catch on! Cheers universe. I get the point!!)

Pondered for a while and felt proud of myself for doing this for me, in the face of some tricky challenges of late. I’m made of sterner stuff than I thought, and though some days the briars feel thorny, I’m getting there. One day at a time. One foot in front of the other.

Pinot noir, packing and preparing for Wellington tomorrow. The final kiwi stop and last of this first leg beckons. Bring it on x