New Zealand really didn't like me saying I had a somewhat dull day; as while I slept I awoke to two earthquakes in the night! The first was a mere 4 on the Richter Scale (which if it happened anywhere else in the world it would be front page in the local press) but frightened the bejaysus out of me. I jumped under the table just in case but the whole room shook like a plane going through turbulence. By the way I don't think the duck and cover technique accounts for Ikea tables! The second one was a 5.5 so as it a logarithmic scale was 15 times stronger but I think it was also deeper. Now this was scary! The one that killed 168 people was 6.3! I sat under the table with the only saving grace being I was still half a sleep to really cop on to what was going on. I listened out for signs we needed to evacuate (an alarm was meant to go off) I just heard a few people talking so figured no need to panic. It only dawned on me after that the alarm mightn't be working and I could have got up and had a look around just in case. As you could imagine I didn't sleep much after that. I had internet connection so could see what size they were and read in the morning that 10,000 people were without electricity. On the road to the airport the next day there was signs of liquefaction where the soil loses it solidification and becomes a liquid spreading up across the roads. I think at this point I was glad to be going home!
What can I say to summarise New Zealand and Australia. I think in one word I would say 'extreme'. At first extremely far away... In Oz extreme animals, an extremely good stay in Rob and Lisa's and Sydney and an extremely good time at Gary's wedding and Melbourne. In New Zealand extremely extreme scenery with extreme beauty where you can do what extreme hobbies you like and it's land can sometimes be extremely dangerous. Most importantly the whole holiday was extremely enjoyable and I will cherish its memories forever although I am now looking forward to getting back to my extremely generous and loving wife.
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