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Hello Hello,
So after publishing the last blog we decided to head out and see the sights of christchurch the main one being the Cathedral which stands in the middle of the square so in we popped and we're delighted to find it warm compared to the biting wind outside! We headed down to the Arts Centre which showed various artistis work and galleries and had a cute market on! The buildings are all very old fashioned which is nice after OZ which is mainly modern. It's kind of like england! We walked all the way down to the Botanical Gardens before heading back inside to the warm. Sunday was a monumental day for us as we made a successful meal for the first time ever- Cauliflower Cheese! I totally have white sauce down to a T now!!
Monday was 10hours on a bus but despite my intial reservations it proved to be a success as the bus drivers fill the time with snippets of information about the areas your going through e.g. Mount Cook and the lakes and rivers which was really interesting! The coach also stops for various photo opportunites and NZ is really one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, the pictures all look kind of similar but are striking so ive now taken 1000 photos! We finally arrived in Queenstown at about 630pm which meant a long trek looking for somewhere to stay in the ICE COLD minus 1 degree weather although the combination of the food bag and my rucksack kept me nicely warm. The place we ended up at was nice, it seemed to be full of more long termers living and working in Queenstown as opposed to quick visitors the only drawback was the small heating system combined with the lack of any blankets or duvets- luckoly by up to -9 sleeping bag made an appearence (and thus carrying it around for 4months has been worthwhile!) so i slept warm and cozy despite the loud snoring from our drunk greek companion!
Tuesday morning we headed up to STA to start our list of many chores, we booked all our accomodation in Fiji and 6 nights of that are all inclusive, plus the boats to island hop and the airport transfer etc which means i can relax knowing that's all sorted and I don't have to read any more guide books as ive now had to become permanently attached to the NZ one! We booked buses and hostels etc- ironic we're becoming more organized now than ever before! We walked down and partially around the lake which queenstown sits on while talking the inevitable task of budgets! But with Fiji now paid for and mum and dad treating us to our last 4 nights in San Fran we don't have to panic too much! We spent an evening watching many films which proved entertaining altho KUng Fu Hussle not so much my thing!
The next morning it was up early again for another bus journey to Franz Josef which again proved to be interesting and beautiful! The costal scenery was literally from the movies which was a nice view compared to overnight buses! The only issue with the drivers info was some of the areas we we're going through we'd done the other day too so it was the same news! There were these two old lady swedes who kept us entertained without even meaning to! We caved at a stop at this cafe and I had the Salmon Chowder (it was a salmon farm!) while libby had pumpkin soup, they just put in all these long stops and we have to do something in them! Arrived at Gloworm cottages to be greeted with signs of fresh homemade soup at six so after washing and sorting out our lives in our dorm we headed to watch a film and get some soup! Dinner followed with mac and cheese aka just cheese!!
Thursday was Glacier day as we attempted to do it without paying hundreds for the opportunity to walk on the ice, although that would've been amazing! We got a shuttle there around midday and did 3 different walks, one to Peter's Pool to view an awesome reflection more of the scenery that the glacier. Second up was climbing up steep hills to a viewpoint that looked over it and lastly to the terminal face. the only problem with doing it this way is that you dont get an idea of the scale of it, at the bottom it looks a little muddy snow and you only get glimpses of the ice blue colour you see in pictures at the top. After a couple of hours we headed back into town to relax with some soup and a film however were sadly disrupted throughout the film by a drunk scot who persisted in trying to talk to us and indeed did so throughout the evening as well which proved annoying!! The only bad point about Gloworm Cottages that was otherwise so nice!
Friday turned out to be a disaster day!! We hopped on our 10hours bus to Nelson, plodding along nicely until we got to our 4th stop of the day, including one where the menu read like egg sandwich was únborn chicken sandwich, ( really how many do they need??) when we sat eating soup while other wondered around and then as we got up to leave looking out the window opposite the bus it just drove off. We both sat there speechless before taking action, i ran to the phonebox to ring the company while libby spoke to the woman in the cafe, who said it happens a lot and the bus doesn't come back!! After a tense 40 minute convo with the woman at the company who said that the bus driver had reported us to have no joined the bus (apparently we were 5minutes late) so we got no refund on our bus and could only be booked for one the next day, which meant we had to stay in Papaukia a small town with no shops and like 2 places to stay, luckily the youth hostel next to the beach took us in and managed to sell us beans and bread for dinner. However without any of our stuff, clothes, toothbrushses etc we were lost! Never to complain again at having to carry my 20kilo rucksack! It was soooo obvious we hadnt left the bus as not only our rucksacks and foodbag where still in the hold but our books and hoodies etc strewn across the seats. Outrageous. Anyway luckily its amazingly picturesque by the beach so no complaints but still.......
Saturday we killed time before the bus by doing a couple of walks and having lunch at the cafe that had been the scene of the crime yesterday! eventually the bus pulled in and I went up to ask the bus driver what time it was leaving only to be greeted with rude oh your the girls that got left, we dont wait for anybody! Then when the bus actually left he made public mockery of us joking that we made the bus this time! However ''Steve' later redeemed himself by ringing a hostel for us and we managed to get a twin room for the same price as a dorm bed plus free hot chocolate pudding and free breakfast the next day! We were reunited with our bags and picked up by the hostel, after eating washing and spreading the news of our story to the world (as there had been no singal in Punakaiki) we crashed into bed before the next bus journey!!
Sunday we headed onto Blenheim, steve picked us up with a coach full of people from the hostel. We were being met in Blenheim by Robin a school friend whose coaching music over here and has been since New Year's Day! He took us down to the school boarding house where he said we could stay in a fellow music coaches room for a couple of nights as she'd kind of moved out- hinting at trouble with the managers who he didnt get on with! We went for a walk around the small town while he had a music rehersal and then he treated us too lunch, us being on a budget and all which was lovely of him. We headed back to relax in the supervisor's room- i felt like a teacher- before heading out to catch a film and pizza with the 2 german girls he's working with! We came back in time for his duty aka sending children to bed and then we too retired after a bit of tv.
Monday morning and the drama had all kicked off just as we were waking, we were just stumbling out of bed to go make breakfast and see if our washing was dry when robin rang and said following a fight with his boss he'd quit!! Consequently he was packing up and leaving the boarding house to stay with a friend in Nelson and although we might be able to stay with 2 teachers who have a house next door maybe we'd have to get out too. The panic began as we madly dashed around trying to pack up, following our own run in with the boss's wife who was outraged we were there without her being asked and wanted to know the exact time we'd be out of there!! 20minutes later we were packed and showered waiting out front for Robin who had turned in his keys!! Soooo mcuh drama! We hopped along to the bus station to find we'd just missed the intercity bus to Picton so would have to fork out for a different one if we wanted to get there today, so we did and booked somewhere along the way thats's the sister place of the free choc pudding and breakfast place!! after finally having breakfast at 1 o clock and mixing with some essex chav's (plus one nicer person who went to manchester uni!) we popped out to door our chores and explore Picton- somewhere we hadnt ever anticipated staying in!! So after splashing out yesterday treating ourselves on the basis of a couple of nights freebie's we're now in a very different position!!
Off to Wellington on the ferry tomorrow and then moving up to Rotorua and Auckland, only just over a week left in NZ before heading on down to Fiji which is all very exciting!!
Hope all is well in hot england!
See you soon!
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dad
non-member comment
NZ Drama
What with missing the bus and Robin resigning, it sounds like you are having your share of challenges a la Lord of the Rings. And there's more to come before you escape to Fiji, I'm sure. Great blog for telling how it is in NZ, Lass. love dadx