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Published: March 5th 2009
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1st March 2009 - RAINBOWS, MORE RAIN & DEVILS PUNCHBOWL!!!
I slept ok and when I woke the drip drip drip had almost stopped. Fair enough I had spent the night in a cold wooden hut with a leaky roof but at least there weren't any snorers!! Always looking on the brightside!! When my alarm went off at 7am I did not want to get out of bed at all and neither did Nat but we had to. I made a move to another hut to get showered...big mistake!!! After seeing the rusty pipe attached to the wall with a rusty screw I made do with a wash in the sink because that was no modern day shower I can tell you!!
Our bus was due at 8.05am. We had been advised by the people at the bike company to get the bus to Arthurs Pass as it was far too hilly to bike. No complaints from me!! We rode across the street and waited outside the bakery...wasn’t hard to find especially when the whole town was made up of the hotel, a petrol pump and the bakery. Nowhere to have brekkie either...gutted!! A muesli bar had to satisfy me.
We waited for around 10 minutes for the bus in the sunshine and rain, hence the rainbow picture...now if only I could find that pot of gold!! The driver of the bus wasn’t pleasant when he arrived. Asked us why we weren’t ready because we hadn’t removed our front wheels!! What?!! How were we to know and how do you remove the front wheel? He ended up doing it for us and then loaded our stuff in the trailer. We were off and on our way to Arthurs!!
So so glad we took the bus...the journey was uphill all the way and even the bus struggled up some sections. Not good weather either...threw it down the whole way there!! Plus...my bum couldn’t have taken another day on the bike...too painful and needed a rest!
We arrived in Arthurs Pass before 10am, put our wheels back on and bagged a room in the YHA for the night. Sweet As...always good hostels!! They even had a garage for the bikes and a big wood burning stove in the lounge area to dry off our clothes and get warm. Much needed!! As soon as we had checked in we dumped our stuff
in our room and then had brekkie and a brew whilst sitting by the fire. Cosy!!
It wasn’t a good day for doing much...howling wind and very wet!! We spent a good 2 hours on the net when we got there to pass some time and catch up on blogs and then sat by the fire some more with our books. I even squeezed in an afternoon nap...can’t beat them!! We did decide to brave the rain for an hour in the afternoon and go and take a look at ‘The Devils Punchbowl Falls - a 130m high waterfall. It looked pretty cool even in the wind and rain so I suppose it was worth the chapped legs.
Once back in the hostel we sat in the lounge, read some more and had another steaming hot brew. Nice to be all warm and toasty when so so cold outside. We cooked a nice filling tea of rice and a sauce (not very adventurous I know but the prices in Arthurs were ridiculous and we couldn’t afford meat and vegetables)!!!The night was taken up by more reading, writing in my journal and sitting about chatting. It was like a
proper lazy Sunday and I loved it!!
2nd March 2009 - GOODBYE ARTHURS PASS!!
I slept so well for the first time in ages!! I was still awake at 7am though with my usual shoulder pain. I don’t think the soft beds are helping much. I went to sit out in the lounge area so as not to disturb anyone in the room and had my breakfast. Still my favourite meal of the day without a doubt!! Nat joined me after a short while and we sat around in the lounge until around 9am when we had to make a move and get showered and dressed. Another bus journey today due to the severity of the hills and so we were outside with our bike wheels removed by 9.40am. We will be dab hands at bike mechanics before we have done. The driver was on time but once again had all the people skills of a broom with his grunting and lack of conversation skills! Makes me wonder why folk who have no people skills always end up working with the public! Still, we eventually got the bikes loaded and were on the road before 10am. Goodbye Arthurs...next stop
Hokitika!!
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