Antipodean trip

I think that the jet lag has just about gone now, though I am still waking up far too early in the mornings. New Zealand is so very far away both in space and time and it is hard to imagine that just over a week ago I was still there.
We flew via Hong Kong this time and had a couple of days stopover there. I have never felt so tall as I did in Hong Kong. A fascinating city that gives a little insight into the Chinese culture. People there are so polite and friendly; I guess with the degree of crowding that they experience it is a necessity to try to get on with everyone. Enduring memories of Hong Kong are the smells and sounds as much as anything else. I was happy to escape the smells of cooked meat of dubious origin and flew into Auckland on a bright and sunny day. So nice to escape the february cold and dark and to feel the warm sunshine. From there another flight on a tiny prop plane up the Whangerei and a few days touring the northern tip including a coach trip along the ninety mile beach up to Cape Reinga. We learned a lot about the Maori culture as seen from the Maori point of view; non Maoris have quite a different take on things.
Two more flights down to Blenheim and then a long drive to Christchurch for a few days, back to Blenheim and then another long drive to Titirangi for a long weekend in a shearers hut, daily fishing trips out in the sounds, and much feasting and drinking of wine. Back to Blenheim; visits to beer festivals, wine festivals and various wineries, a helicopter flight over the sounds and then the long journey home having missed the freezing cold weather.
New Zealand is changed since my last trip there, it seems more up to date than it was. Having said that, it is not a place that I would wish to live. It has magnificent scenery everywhere, and clean well designed towns and cities. It has good roads and affordable housing, it has rugby as a national obsession and then there is the wine industry that is taking over many parts. Vinyards are huge, one alone, the Yealands estate, has four square miles of vines. There is a danger of monoculture which is both risky and uninteresting.
However it is a great place to visit and I take away some wonderful memories. Now back to reality and the packing up of the house for a move next week.