So our very last day together we woke up early from the ski lodge and had breakfast all together and then hit the road (the usual). We made a few pit stops to take some pictures and then our last stop for the whole tour was a sheep farm. It was really interesting but as you can guess it will not be labeled as one of my highlights : ). However, the sheep were so cute and nice and it was cool to feel their wool coats. I also have to admit that it was really cool to see the Border collie gather up all the sheep on demand and keep them in a bunch and keep them all together.

Pretty much we got a short introduction of this one guy that works on the farm full-time and he is the only person that works there every day besides his father who works part-time there. It is a small local farm with 2,000 sheep and 500 cows so it was pretty unbelievable that only one person and two dogs can manage that whole farm by themselves but it is the dogs that do most of the work. This family had a beautiful house in a beautiful location. The scenery reminded me of the back porch of my parents old house so beautiful and peaceful with the big mountain in the background.

After we watched the sheep get gathered by the puppy the family prepared snacks for us. I just had cookies and a scone and some water, (I skipped the coffee). Then we just sat at the tables and enjoyed the company, scenery and dog. Seeing dogs really makes me miss Abby but I know she is having a lot of fun right now. She is at Ian’s parents and getting a couple walks a day and also swimming a lot at the lake that is right by their house. I am sure they are taking the best care of her. She is there right now because Ian comes to visit me in ONE WEEK! Anyway after we left there we drove all the way to Christchurch (earthquake central) with only one pee stop.

Once we got to Christchurch we had two different hostels to stop at to drop people off at. Myself and the friends that I hung out with all week stayed at the hostel the ‘jail house’ and the other hostel that dropped off people was the Bealy street hostle. Most of the hostels are closed down because of damage that happened from the Earthquakes. Our hostel the jail house used to be a women’s prison in the 1800’s and was turned into a hostle in 1999 so it was a very interesting place to stay at. It was a lot of fun though and clean but the best part was I got to stay the last night with all of the new friends I made.
When we got there we all headed to subway for our last dinner together (we thought we would go all out). After subway we just hung around the hostel, watched a dumb movie that was about fighting and guns and stuff that mostly only boys like (I voluntarily opted out of this one within the first 20 minutes) and then played a bunch of cards until we were really tired and went to bed.
It was nice to sleep in this morning but a lot of people were woken up by their beds and doors shaking from a 5.3 earthquake. It happened at 7am and I somehow didn’t wake up to it. A lot of people did but me and my roomie Sarah didn’t feel a thing. I thought I had a dream about it but it was really vague and I don’t really remember because I was half asleep.
This morning I woke up and showered and got ready right away at around 8 or 8:30ish. After I woke up I bought 3 dollars of internet and called Ian for a quick hello and goodbye and then hung around the hostel with friends. We had to say some goodbyes to people that we met during the tour which really sucked but it wasn’t too hard, (must be facebook or something). It’s funny how well you get to know somebody after just a week of hanging out with them 24/7. The first person to leave was Ben and he is going home to Michigan after studying and working in Asia for the last 3 months. He took extra time off after his internship and stayed in Australia for a while and then did the week tour with us in New Zealand. He was a lot of fun and we kept each other company during the long drives we had throughout the week. He is only in Michigan so I am sure we will see more of each other because we became really good friends after a week.
After he left a few of us that stayed at the jail house walked over to this café and got our last brekky together. It was also good company and I think for the most part everybody was ready to go home and get back into a schedule. We had a nice breakfast and nice company and then walked back and Erica, me and Anas waited for our shuttle. Alex and David were taking a bus back to the town in New Zealand that they are studying at Dunedin which is way south of the south island in New Zealand. They decided they would stay at the hostel until our shuttle came and then walk to lunch and then walk to their bus stop to catch the bus back to school.

Our shuttle came and we all said our goodbyes again. I maybe will see them in the future also because they just live in MN and I think our schools may play each other in sports. They go to a small Lutheran school in MN that is division D also. After saying goodbye to them and a few other friends I met we loaded our shuttle and were off to the airport. We got to the airport and of course there was airport drama, our plan was delayed a few hours but I am on the plane safe and in the air. I will be landing soon and I am so excited to get back to see my roomies and relax at home! Travelling for two weeks and living out of a ripped suitcase is sure tiring and I am ready to be back in Aussie with my mates! So good bye for now : )!