Monday, our last day in New Zealand and sadness infected the atmosphere. The tour director got on with the packing in the morning and I used the normal avoidance techniques. I was dragged in to help pack a box which contained clothes we have decided we don't need on this trip.
After the packing we needed to go out for lunch or that's what the tour director decided she needed. We set off for the centre of town to see a huge passenger liner that had pulled into the bay and which was in the process of unloading passengers who were flooding into Gisborne. The ship held 2400 passengers so the centre of  Gisborne became quickly inundated. Some left in buses to go on a tour and some waited for the steam train to arrive to take them on an excursion.
It was decided we would wait on the esplanade for the steam train to pull out. This was due to happen at 12.00 so we only had fifteen minutes to wait. The best laid plans are often misled and run awry. We sat on the grass bank waiting for forty five minutes until the train showed any sign of movement. The wait was punctuated by a young Maori girl who walked to the middle of the bridge and then sat down waiting to jump into the river. Although the security guards on our side of the bridge were shouting at her to jump, she refused. Where else in the world could you walk on put a railway bridge when a train was imminent?
The girl was persuaded to jump by the sight of two policemen running to the scene.
After all of this excitement we headed off to find lunch, we went to a restaurant, which was full of passengers from the ship, so Sally suggested a pub. We drove for twenty minutes to get there only to discover it was shut. Sally then suggested a vineyard so drove ten minutes to get there only to discover it was shut on Mondays. Andrew then suggested a pub in Gisborne three minutes walk from where we had been sat waiting for the train to depart. We arrived there, inspected the menu and decided we didn't like it, so we had lunch in a bar across the road about a minute's walk away from where we had been sat. Lunch was not a great meal Andy complained about the way his steak was cooked and as a result it was removed from our bill. My steak was also over cooked but as I idiotically ate it so I could hardly claim a rebate.
In the afternoon we relaxed before the tour director went to have her hair cut at six pm. Our evening meal was quieter than normal and we had a relatively early night.
After the three weeks the idea of leaving was one all of us found difficult to come to grips with.