We've officially left New Zealand

Today has been a whirlwind of emotions and pretty go go go. We stayed in a lovely Airbnb last night and I wish we didn't have to leave it because it was the comfiest bed we've had yet. We packed up our car one last time before setting off early to run some errands around Auckland. Managing to dodge most of the rush hour traffic we were at a post office near the airport for when it opened to send one last parcel home. Our next stop was to the bank to send all our money from our NZ accounts to our UK one. We discovered from other backpackers an awesome site called Transferwise which uses the simple concept of the money you pay to them goes into their NZ account and then the pay out you receive comes from their UK account, so the money never leaves NZ really. It's such a good idea because we got hundreds of pounds more doing it with this site than we would of with the international exchange rates from banks. Once that was completed it was a last stop to a supermarket to get some toiletries and then we were off on our way to drop the car off at 10:30am. After fuelling up at the airport we dropped it off on time and then were given a lift to the international departure terminal. We waited a while, eating snacks and drinking our water before going through check in. We queued for about 45 minutes before getting our boarding passes and dropping off our luggage. Soon we were upstairs eating Japanese food reminiscing about our time here in this wonderful country. I'm so sad to leave it and the people we know here and I don't think we're prepared for the shock we will get being back home with so many thousands of people around. We decided to have a check on our transfer and see how it was going and annoyingly we discovered our NZ bank accounts had been locked, despite doing it in branch and being reassured this wouldn't happen. We had no credit on our phones either but luckily Nick found somewhere to buy some top up and I called the bank. After 15 minutes or so of going through different people and confirming details my account was active again and the transfer released, the lady then did the same process with Nick. I'm so so so pleased we checked before we left the country as calling from Fiji would have cost a fortune. Feeling more relaxed we passed through security and eventually boarded our first flight in 16 months. We were given seats by the emergency exit which was great for leg room but did mean we couldn't access our fold out TVs until we were in the air where as everyone else had a good 30 minutes head start on the films. Luckily the films weren't great and my TV wouldn't stay upright anyway so we both gave up on films. Instead we enjoyed flying in such gorgeous weather watching Fiji slowy coming into view. After touch down and being hit by a huge wave of heat we met our transfer lady who was taking us to our accomodation. We had a bit of wait for another flight to land and then another long wait to actually check in but as soon as we walked into our aircon filled room it was amazing. We spent the evening having dinner by the beach and watching the sunset. Just like the day our time in New Zealand has come to an end. I never thought I'd love a country so much as this and I know that we will be back, it's just a matter of when not if.Read more