After
spending some time climbing in the Darrans and around Dunedin, we drive North
to Christchurch. It's time to sell our camper and move on to Australia.
Our tickets
for Sydney are booked for the end of the month, but we would like to leave
as soon as possible. We don't have any more climbing objectives in NZ for
this time. But first, we must sell our van. We take pics, prepare some ads,
and post them everywhere.
While
we wait, we spend a couple of days cragging in the Port Hills above Christchurch.
We get an offer a week after arriving in Christchurch. It's a $1,000 below
what we wanted but staying here waiting for better deals costs time and money.
On February 12, the van is sold, we change our plane tickets, send some excess
luggage (snow and ice gear) to friends in the US by post, and check into a
hostel for our last night in New Zealand.
 |
|
Spending
a few days in Christchurch...
|
|
 |
|
...trying
to sell our van...
|
|
 |
|
...and
preparing for the Australian section of the trip.
|
|
 |
|
The
Christchurch College, near the YHA where we spent our last night
in NZ.
|
|
 |
|
We
used to kid a lot about having to pay for everything in NZ...
The departure (!) tax at the airport is no exception.
|
|
Alpine
start the next morning (up at 2:45AM)...to catch the first flight to Sydney.
The views of the Southern Alps from the plane are hard to beat. We get to
Sydney without trouble (even the luggage is there!) and settle for a few days
at a YHA hostel in Glebe, one of Sydney's hype neighborhoods.
 |
|
Views
of the Southern Alps from the plane in the early morning.
|
|
 |
|
Better
view of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, the highest peaks in the Southern
Alps.
|
|
 |
|
About
to land in Sydney, Australia.
|
|
 |
|
Arriving
in Sydney.
|
|
|
