We zoomed the last drive up to Christchurch to have a bit of "city time" before our long journey home. We noticed on the map that there was a cable car to the south of the city which we hoped would offer good views of the surrounding area. After getting lost a few times we eventually found it and headed upwards!

It was certainly pretty windy up at the top with the sun poking out occasionally from behind the quickly moving clouds. There was a great panorama with this view to the south of Lyttleton Harbour.

This was the view back North towards the city.

After satisfying our needs for views and also having polished off our lunch we headed into the centre of Christchurch to have a look around the city. Christchurch is renowned as the gateway to the Antarctic and it was where Scott set off for his final journey to the frozen continent. Here, his wife's statue to him stands proudly in a Christchurch park.

In the central square stands Christchurch cathedral. It was very odd seeing such a British looking cathedral standing in a city 10,000 miles away!

There were many art exhibitions dotted around the cities green areas and parks with this sculpture being one of a large collection we came across.

Walking around Christchurch we'd stopped off in a few of the parks and took a little time to feed the ducks. Here a very friendly New Zealand Scaup had come to grab a bite of late lunch!

Eventually it was time to go, so we dropped out faithful car off after just clocking 5000km on the way back to the Car Hire place and caught the courtesy bus to the airport. When we arrived the sky had some wonderful late summer evening clouds so a trip to the observation deck was more about catching a few rays and watching the skies than looking at planes!

Another reminder of Christchurch's significance with the Antarctic was apparent when this Antarctic Survey Hercules transport plane arrived. You can see the skids by the wheels allowing it to land on the pack ice.

Again, the clouds were fantastic and with the wonderful blue sky as a backdrop it was hard not to be mesmerised.

Our plane was waiting and it was time to get on board. Well there was time for a quick photo first as there was throughout the holiday!

Once on board the clicking didn't stop. With the light and sunset constantly changing there was always another picture to be taken.

After taking off on our short flight from Christchurch to Auckland the sun broke through the clouds to give some spectacular views through the window of the river and the surrounding areas of Christchurch.

Again, some great light and clouds made it a spectacular flight.

Our final sight of the South Island was as we flew over Farewell Spit which juts out into the Cook Straights. We'd seen it on our maps before we'd left but didn't think we'd manage to see it while we were here so another added bonus!

After an amazing 20 days on the islands of the thin white cloud, 3000 miles driven, 1500 pictures taken and many wonderful memories gained, it was time to head home. A hastily set up picture, this is us just about to head airside in Auckland airport before catching the long flight back home. Tired but very happy with our adventure drawing to an end.