Here's where my trip really started going. It was a long plane flight all the way from London, UK to Christchurch, NZ in one go. The first flight was excellent, still quite fresh and I had a good seat next to a cute girl from Manchester. I was able to leave the airport at LA which was unexpected, but there really was only time to breathe some of the smog outside. After a nightmare with frantic American security checks at LA I had to sit next to a fat Mauri trucker all the way to Auckland. At least we exchanged some interesting words, but those 12 hours went pretty slowly. I arrived in a rainy Auckland and then it was just a short hop to Christchurch. The last flight I hardly felt!
Now I've been away from the UK for over 2 months and I love it. New Zealand is an incedibly beautiful country with a huge range of different landscapes and plant life. There are more birds and less people and the people are friendlier. Its damm refreshing not to have such a class system hanging round your neck (whether its dragging you down or stringing you up, it doesn't really matter.) I think this may be a place I'd be happy settling down.