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Published: March 27th 2009
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Saturday 21st March 2009 - A DAY IN OMARAMA....QUIET LITTLE PLACE!!
The hostel (Buscott Backpackers) was located just outside of Omarama and the bus driver, as nice as he was, dropped us off on the road just outside the hostel. It feels wrong to call it a hostel as it wasn't your typical backpackers. It was a big farm house located around 1.5km from the road up a gravel path. The place was totally secluded and was a fantastic looking house. It was set out beautifully and had a proper kitchen, dining room and living room that we could use. We were staying in a dorm room out the back and over the garage (like a granny flat). It was nice and the beds weren't bunk beds either...double bonus!!
We put our stuff in the room and sat outside for a while in the sun as it was such a nice day. As the day drew on I really didn't feel too good again and so I went inside for a sleep. Nat came and woke me at around 3pm as we needed to ride into town to get some stuff for breakfast and tea. Getting on the bike was
the last thing I felt like doing but I really had no choice unless I wanted to go hungry. I probably would have chosen to go hungry for the night but not having milk and cereal for morning did it...I had to go to the shops!
We set off on the road. Only a short 9km ride and only 2 hills so not so bad. To be honest I felt better for doing it....maybe I just needed some fresh air and physical exercise. We were both sick of the sight of pasta and rice by now and did not want it for tea again. There wasn't loads of choice but we ended up getting some fish fingers and chips just for a different taste. Haven't had either in a very long time! We then loaded our shopping into our now empty panniers and headed back to the house.
Back at the house we sat in the dining room and wrote our journals for a bit. Needed to catch up on a few days so it was good to have no distractions. We made tea at around 6ish and I felt like I was 6 years old and back
at school again eating fish fingers and chips. I enjoyed though until I suffered the single worst experience I have had since I started travelling. And that includes the sandflies and the snorers! 4 guys sat at the table with their dinners and for those of you that know me, you will know that my pet peeve is when people make loads of noise when eating and speak with their mouths full. Fair enough, they were eating noodles so you can almost tolerate a spot of slurping but the smacking of chops was just too much to bear!! I wanted to walk away from the table but Nat was still eating so I couldn't. I was cringing and wanted to either shoot all four of them or shoot myself...no kidding! As soon as Nat put her cutlery down I was up and off......out of the room at the speed of light! Absolutely awful!!
After being in the room for a short time we ventured back down again and thankfully they had all finished eating. Woo!! We settled in the lounge to watch a good film but were stopped in our tracks when the house owner put opera on. I
wouldn't have minded but he then walked out the room! I read my book for a while downstairs in the warmth and Nat went up to bed. It had been a nice day apart from the eating!!
Cycled: 18km/11.2 miles
22nd March 2009 - NICE RIDE TO TWIZEL & LOG FIRE HEAVEN!!
We were trapped in a room with another snorer last night. Thankfully I only woke up a couple of times during the night unlike Nat who woke every hour and ended up swapping beds to get further away from him. I did wake up at 7am though and couldn't get back to sleep because of his incessant snoring. I decided to get up, showered and go down to the farm house to have breakfast and a cuppa. It was nice and warm in the house unlike outside which was bitterly cold like a frosty morning in England....Brrrr!!!
We only had a short cycle today to get to the next town ad so we weren't in a rush. I decided to sit and read my book for a while and catch up on my journal some more. Nat eventually joined me downstairs at around 9am. She
was still fuming over the snoring guy and feeling shattered from her lack of sleep. We hung around until about 10am before setting off on our way to Twizel.
It was extremely cold when we set off but it soon got warm as the sun came up and we de-layered pretty quickly. The cycle was the best we had done so far as it was all pretty flat and relatively easy. There were nice views too as we entered McKenzie Country and you could see Mount Cook in the distance with its snow capped peak. It was a really lovely ride and I wished they had all been like that! I thought of this ride as really short and hardly anything but at home if something was 15 miles away I wouldn't dream of getting my bike out. It's funny how views change when travelling. I wonder if my views will change again if (only kidding mum) when I return home!!
We arrived in Twizel just after 11 and went straight to the info centre to try to get some accommodation. The lady advised that the best place and cheapest was 3km out of town and was again
not your average hostel as it was an old house. We booked it...a bit more cycling for the day would do us good!! When we arrived we were shown to our tin shed bedroom...no kidding! Only us in it though and it had a heater so we weren't complaining. The rest of the facilities were in a nearby house and like the previous night it had a proper kitchen and a living room with TV and a big log fire. I was looking forward to lying in front of that later!
Once we had checked the place out we headed back on the bikes into town to book our hostel for Mount Cook Village (our next destination) and get our photos burnt to CD....always keep a back up!! Whilst in town we did our daily shopping as well and loaded up our empty panniers. Love it! We then rode back to the hostel (racking up the extra kilometres) and sat out in the sunshine again. Got to make the most of it in this country as you can get 4 seasons in one day! A great big black dog decided to join us at around 4.30pm and so I
took that as my cue to go inside.....it was getting cold anyway never mind the fact that it scared me senseless! I finished yet another book whilst in the room and then we headed to the house to cook tea and get the log fire going. I took my spot on the rug in front of it and got warm and toasty whilst watching a little friends on TV - and yes dad...I had seen it before and it was funny that time too!!
For the rest of the evening I wrote my journal, started a new book and just relaxed. I wanted to phone home to wish my mum a happy mother’s day and my sister a happy birthday but no phone so I couldn't. Bit disappointed!! After a while I went back to our tin room and went to bed...for once I felt warm and full and fell to sleep easily!
Cycled 31km/19.3 miles
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