The End

We finally made it home, exactly eight months from the day we left. It was pretty surreal for us to say goodbye to our cousin at the Sydney airport and be welcomed by our parents and aunt at the Vancouver airport thirty-six hours later. 

The first flight was actually not too bad. It was about eight hours and I even slept a bit before getting into Bangkok late at night for our first  stop over. We then headed to London on a flight that took about ten hours and were greeted by our old friends and newlyweds, Camille and James. Our seven hour stop over in London was quite pleasant and included going out for an English breakfast, taking a walk around Harrods, going for one last English pint and seeing the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. It was great to see our friends one last time and we felt like we were "completing the circle" by starting and ending in London. The last flight was by far the worst, It was about twelve hours and Al didn't sleep much at all, and I only a couple hours. We did finally make it though, a little delirious but full of energy and were extremely relieved to see our parents faces on the other side.

Everyone back here in Vancouver has been asking us about the highlights of the trip and stating how lucky we were to be able to travel for so long. While the trip was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and will stand as a major highlight of our lives, traveling is essentially a selfish act. Trekking through the mountains in north Vietnam, bungee jumping, eating delectable risotto in Verona, sampling wines in the Barossa Valley, biking around the Isle of Mull, and scaling the ruins of Angkor Wat lost some of their significance as we were recalling our trip in the company of friends and family at our Welcome Back party. Our tales were overshadowed by the interest and affection displayed by the two dozen people that showed up to drink beer and chat with us. Thanks to the Bellingham Boys (plus Leslee!) for coming up, and thanks to the Lattimer Crew for showing and being as funny as ever, and to Beak and all of Kate's buddies for making our transition back home an awesome one. Nothing beats life-long friends and family!

Nelson, Kaikoura, And Back Home

From the flapjack rock formations of Punakaiki we bussed to the top of the South Island. We decided to spend some time in Nelson, the sunniest city in New Zealand. The foothills and port setting reminded us of Scotland's Oban, but this little town was much warmer and activity-based. We were there for three days. One of the days was spent biking to Tahunanui Beach. We stumbled upon Stoke Brewery during our ride, by fluke, and enjoyed all of the samples that floor manager Jesse Achilles provided us with. We were so impressed with this family brewery that we both bought t-shirts, and pints, from Jesse. We love boutique breweries...and bakeries...and wineries...and galleries...and....

 The Livingroom-Like Stoke Brewery Taproom

A shout-out to Nelson's Tasman Bay Backpackers for supplying us with free baked chocolate pudding and vanilla ice cream every night.

From Nelson we travelled to Kaikoura, on the East Coast. Kaikoura is a small seaside town that has become famous for the Right Whales and Dusky Dolphins that frequent the waters off the coast. While we could not afford to "swim with the dolphins" at this point in our trip, we did spend a pleasant afternoon hiking up along the coast to visit a furry seal colony. Kate got within five feet of a sleeping seal but was too scared to try to hug the snoring beast, despite my dares. We also saw the largest Red Beaked Seagull colony in the world....ooooooooo!

The Kaikoura Koast

We are back in Christchurch now and only have a few days left in our massive odyssey. We fly to Sydney tomorrow morning to spend a few days with our cousin, and then we fly back to Vancouver on December 7th for eggnog, Christmas cheer, and unavoidable debt. We have been feeling for some time that we should do something to acknowledge this epic trip we have taken...so, after much deliberation and amending, we got our first tattoos! The tattoos are: our family motto ("cursum perficio" aka "perfect the course" aka "finish what you start"), a RTW trip commemoration, and birthday emblems (11/11/11 and 11/19/11) based on font from one of Scotland's most treasured manuscripts, the Aberdeen Bestiary. A huge thanks to Maori artist, Penni, from Christchurch's City of Ink for her flawless work and to Vancouver calligrapher, Jane Woolnough, for creating countless drafts of the tat design.  

We have recently come to the random discovery that many popular sayings amongst the elderly contain the word little: 

"A little dab will do ya"

"That's got a little kick to it"

"It's a little pick-me-up!"

"A little birdie told me..."

Weird.