Decisions, decisions...

Hi all,

We're having a nice low-key weekend here in Wellington. Friday night the housemates made a big dinner and had (a few) beers, and yesterday Rory and I had a walk around town. We talked to Air NZ (more about that below) and also had a great lunch at a Japanese restaurant on Cuba Street. It was reasonably priced and very tasty. I think I must be acclimatized to the prices here, as fifteen dollars for a meal now seems decent. Last night we watched the Olympics and drank the rest of our beer. On several events it was NZ vs. USA vs. UK, so tensions were running high between the flatmates! Just kidding, it was all good fun, and NZ came away with three medals in rowing (their first of the 2008 Olympics).

The situation with our return flights are just what we expected: they are not transferable and non-refundable. The lady who helped us was actually surprised at how little we paid in the first place, and for us to pay the difference in order to fly home in April will be substantial. For me, it would be $150 US for the change fee, plus at least $500 US for the difference. For Rory, it would be a little less, but still at least half of what we paid in the first place. Crazy.

We do want to stay another year, so if we went home we'd have to buy another roundtrip ticket to get back again (and it would have to be roundtrip, to get through customs). This would be at least another $1500. Plus, for me, I'd have to get to the UK after that, which is another $900. So we're looking at alternatives.

We might have to just let our return ticket go, and then find a different way back to the UK. If we stay another year and a half, and put money into our travel savings account every week, we think that we can afford to do some serious backpacking. To put it in perspective, we'd have to pay $1500 US to get a one-way ticket to either the US or UK, whereas we could spend that same money and break it into several flights on the way home. We can get to Australia for $300, then from Australia to Thailand for $600, then Thailand to India for $250, then India to South Africa...and so on....we'll have time, and it is likely our last big adventure before we settle down.

So that is where things stand at the moment. I'm sad that it seems like I won't be able to come home, but I don't think two weeks would be worth the expense and the exhaustion. We're open to suggestions, so please leave comments and tell us what you think!

We're going to the market in about an hour, and then giving Colin a send-off dinner this afternoon. He will be boarding at Nik's parents until November, when he returns to the UK. Tomorrow I start work! Hooray!

Love, Amy