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Published: February 15th 2006
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Kate, Jo, Jordan and I decided to go from Christchurch to Grey Mouth on the west coast this weekend, innocent enough. We had to be in downtown Christchurch (a 45min bus ride) by 7am. Adventure number one: we get out there to wait for the bus and realize its Saturday and the busses don’t start running till 730! Um crap. So we just ended up calling a taxi and getting down there just fine, a little more money but it happens. So this bus was ridiculous, see picture. I thought for sure it would never make it, somehow it did. So the road from the east coast to the west coast was absolutely spectacular. You pass over the main fault line, thus passing through the highest elevation in New Zealand. Passed by the mountain they used in Lord of the Rings and the rocks they used in the Chronicles of Narnia, just like the movie (well obviously but it was still pretty cool). The bus ride was 5 hrs long, so that kinda sucked but I was able to sleep some of the way. We stayed at the most amazing hostel ever! They had free bikes, kayaks, clean facilities, nice
A Kwia
this is the only parrot in the wrold that lives in a mountain climate! They are crazy, comes up to you and tries to eat your food, they are like city chickens! but for the mountains kitchen, I was in heaven.
We took the bikes out and went to where the river meets the ocean (grey mouth) and walked along the beach. The bike ride was an adventure in itself. The seats where so bad! My butt still hurts. And people here are not very accommodating to bikes at all. But through all the pain, it was wroth it. We climbed all over the killer rocks on the beach and watched the tide come in (we almost got caught but its all good). Then road back, made dinner and sat in the coved porch and listened to it rain, talking and drinking and having the best time.
Well here is our next adventure. The next morning we were supposed to be picked up at our hostel by the van sometime around 12. So we were all out there waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Never showed. We called they said they would call the driver to remind him. We waited some more. Called again…oh yeah they left with out us. We trucked down to the information stations (these really nice places in every town that help out the tourists). This little old lady took pity on us
Aurthors pass
The best mountains in NZ and basically tore the bus company apart. They ended up renting us a car to get us back into town, poor Jordan volunteered to drive (non of us had driven on the left hand side b4 so it was defiantly a task). So instead of getting in on Sunday around dinner with time to get settled and ready for orientation we strolled into Lincoln around midnight totally exhausted! But that is life
Till next time
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