Hello backpack, goodbye NZ

Hello all.

We just wanted to drop a line to let people know where we are headed.  It was time to move back into the backpack and out of our car. We sold our car for 50 more dollars then we paid for it and sold our camping gear for 100 less then what we payed so not so bad.   We left our comfortable spot at Wantoo Wantoo early in the morning and excersised our thumb muscles.  Yes, we had to hitch from Motueka to Nelson, then Nelson to Blenheim, then Blenheim to Picton where our ferry to the north island awaited.  It was pretty sweet to hitch, it only took us 10 min to get a ride the first leg.  The second was longer because we got dropped off at "the hitching spot"and there was a couple there already.  We haven't read the hitchhiking rulebook but we figured we should give them some space so we sat down and waited, and waited.  They were not getting picked up.  Finally an hour later they did and ten minutes later we did.  We got to Blenheim and ate some lunch and then went the last 15 min with a tourist from Germany. 

We took the ferry to Wellington, on the north island and spent 4 uneventful, sick days waiting to leave.  We were finally cured by some Chinese medincine (pill and tea combo) that we picked up in Wellington.  We left by plane, to Christchurch back on the south island (don't ask).  We then flew 4 hours to Brisbane, Australia.  We arrived around 6pm, missed the commuter train to the Gold Coast by twenty seconds, waited 1 hour for the next, rode the train for 90 min, waited at the bus stop for 40 min for bus that never came, shared taxi with four other people waiting for the same bus, got out at another bus stop, waited 30 min for bus to arrive, were dropped off at the wrong stop, walked 15 min to hostle: time 11pm!  What a day! The thing was that our hostel was a 10 minute walk to the airport, which was good because we had to check-in by 6:30am, so we did and then went back to the hostel to take advantage of our free breakfast!