parting ways

So after two months on the South Island, Amy and I are flying back to Wellington tomorrow afternoon. It's amazing how quickly the time has passed. When we first got down here we decided to divide up our time in week-long "units" thinking it would make the amount of time seem less daunting. We were barely one "unit" into our trip before we realized that eight "units" would barely be enough time to fit everything in.

So now we're back in Christchurch and we've done and seen pretty much everything we hoped to. The past couple of months have definitely been great.

Unfortunately, the trip is ending on a disappointing note. Last night in Murchison my camera was stolen from our hostel. I made a CD of the pictures a couple of weeks ago, so all wasn't lost, but my pictures from the past two weeks, Mt. Cook, Wanaka, Rob Roy, Arthur's Pass, the Gillespie Pass and Franz Josef Glacier, are nowhere to be found.

I have traveler's insurance, so I should be able to replace my camera, and Amy has been with me the whole time, so she has most of the same pictures, but it's not quite the same. I was pretty upset this morning, and on top of that we had to say goodbye to our four friends we'd been traveling with for the past month.

However, the morning was not without its amusing moments. When I walked to the police station with the hostel owner to file a report we got to the office just as the town's one officer was emerging from his house in his shorts and t-shirt. He met us in the "office" and took down my details and was as business-like as any other police officer, but I wondered if he conducted all his police business in his boxers.

I have a week in Wellington to find a new camera before we head to Asia, so if anyone has any tips of what kind I should buy, let me know.