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We'll blog properly soon but just cos I've been meaning to I thought I'd enlighten you on what exactly our travel days entail.
Our Busabout buses generally depart at 8am, so it's an early start if you're moving on from somewhere. You never know who your guide and driver are going to be as they are on the circuit and going somewhere new every day. Most of the guides are Aussies or Poms.
As soon as your luggage is loaded on you show the guide your passport as ID and they swipe your Busabout pass on their little palm pilot things to make sure you booked a seat on the bus and then you can board. When the ride gets underway the guide then has to do a safety spiel - emergency exits hyah, hyah and hyah, fire extinguisher hyah, first aid kit hyah, cellphone hyah, etc. They also tell you to wear your seatbelt and that no hot, smelly or dairy food is allowed on board or drinks that aren't in resealable bottles. No intoxicated persons are allowed on board, don't use the toilet, don't move around too much, blah blah blah.
They then do a little spiel of how the day's drive is going to go - when and where we'll stop, what DVDs they're playing and about what time we'll 'get there'. A form goes around the bus you have to fill in saying if you're staying at the Busabout recommended accommodation and if you've pre booked.
The service stops are usually half an hour at places where there are a hundred other coaches and trucks etc. Sometimes there's a sort of sightseeing stop where there's a certain sight, like Pisa, where we'll stop for an hour and a half for a decent look.
As we get closer to the destination the guides will do a spiel on the country if it's a new one, the city or town, things to see and do and the accommodation we're being dropped off at. They then try and sell you discounted tours run by other companies. They'll also teach you a bit of the language, give you directions and answer any questions.
When you get there they make sure you check in OK and their job ends there.
The good thing is that you're on your own timetable so you can meet lots of interesting and different people - we've met Wendy the social worker and Brendon who's been on Country Calendar on his dad's farm in Haast from Dunedin, Jennie the archaeologist from Toronto, Jarrad the Dutch Aussie football lover, Kirsten the California college student, Kieran the structural engineer and Erin the coeliac nurse from Christchurch and lots more. Trouble is you tend to lose your new friends along the way too! It's a small world though - our Busabout guide from yesterday is from Christchurch and is best mates with Trevor and Kirsten who own Roquette restaurant in Whakatane...
Big day planned tomorrow, a train trip from Nice to Monaco to see how the other half lives and maybe if we can get ourselves a French Riviera radio job! We haven't bumped into any Jolie-Pitts in Nice yet so we'll try our luck with the Grimaldis. More soon!
Roho
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Lisa
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Buggered....
S**t, just done my first workout at home with my fitness instructor on the internet - live! Didn't realise I was so unfit. Am going to try pilates on my next session. Terence has one more week left before he returns to work. He is still limping without crutches, getting quite restless and sick of daytime TV shows. He has watched every Wimbledon tennis match - live on TV and it is the mens finals today. Having a big bar-bq this weekend with friends then we hope to go camping the weekend after if the weather is good. How is your hand? Never been to Monaco but I hear it is quite an extravagant city with fancy big yachts and fast cars. I guess you might spot a couple of Ferrari's there. Well, back to the usual boring chores now - cook dinner, wash up, iron my pants, a cup of English tea then bed!