The TopSpot of New Zealand
Christchurch -> Kaikoura, 20th November 2001.
Last night we'd noticed that the other beds in our room had become
occupied. As we were catching the Kiwi Experience Coach today, we
had to get up early. We got ready and packed our things in a slow
and painstaking manner so we didn't disturb the others too much.
Eventually we were all packed and ready, and still about 40 minutes
early. We decided to make use of the time to rush down to Burger
King and get some breakfast. Judging by the mediocre state and
burnt-ness of the breakfast, the BK staff must have been in more of
a hurry than us...
As we stood in the lobby of the hostel (the bus company picks you up
from your hostel!) we noticed, with concern, the large number of
people standing in front of us. Would we get a seat? At 8:05am, a
big bus with the words 'The Magic Bus Company' printed on the side,
drove up. Just about everyone in the lobby then left and got on the
bus. Phew! Over the next 10 minutes, a few more people appeared,
then one of the unmistakable huge green Kiwi Experience buses pulled
up. We chucked our bags on and got onto an almost empty coach, looks
like it's going to be a comfortable ride! But over the next 15
minutes, we drove to just about every hostel in town and eventually
the bus left Christchuch with just about every seat taken.
After 12 hour train journeys in the US, the 2-3hour bus journeys in
NZ seemed tame, which is good because I hate long journeys crammed
into a bus. It's quite funny how they take a 40-minute snack break
in the middle of a 1.5 hour bus journey though!
The route we took was very scenic, we drove along the coast looking
out over the apparently never ending sea, rolling and crashing
ceaselessly. As we drove quietly along the road, we heard the people
in front talking about doing every activity under the sun...whale
watching, swimming with dolphins, swimming in cages surrounded by
sharks and more. Don't these people have money limits? Finally,
though, one girl mentioned not having enough money and made us feel
a little better.
 One
thing that took a bit of getting used to, was the bus drivers doing
all the accommodation and activity arranging. Up to now, we'd found
and booked all our own accommodation ourselves. So it was a little
strange having it done for us. We were a little unsure at first, a
bit concerned about being ripped off or being forced in rubbish
hostels. However, we quickly learned that the Kiwi Experience finds
good priced, good quality accommodation. (In fact, we tried to turn
down their offered accommodation, but the driver politely suggested
taking it up because it was a busy time of year and finding other
places could be difficult. So we decided to take them up on their
offer, and the hostel we found ourselves in turned out to be one of
our favourites...)
Topspot, is a great big chalet style beach home with a huge shared
kitchen and a really cosy common area with great beach views. The
atmosphere is wonderful and you could easily spend days here lazing
around...
We queued for a while in the quiet, fresh smelling garden, waiting
to check in. When we reached the front of the queue, the owner
greeted us with a big smile. She had long, golden, curly hair and an
energetic, cheerful, slightly red face. After we'd signed in, we
were surprised to find that none of the rooms had locks. All part of
the 'atmosphere' apparently. Surprisingly though, they had no
problem with theft, everyone just revelled in the peacefulness and
respected everyone else...
 After
unpacking some things, we took a short walk around town. When I say
short, I mean it! The town is tiny! After having walked around the
town twice in less than 10 minutes we grabbed a bite to eat in a
small cafe and then headed down to the quiet, stoney beach. The rain
was falling gently, but continuously so the beach was empty. As we
meandered along the beach, I made the mistake of feeding a seagull.
After one had had some food, thousands of others flocked in, so we
made a quick move to the tourist office.
We read through the pamphlets in the small wooden cabin masquerading
as a tourist office and soon came across one mentioning Mount Fyffe.
A nearby mountain with a manageable 8-9 hour round trip to the top.
Even better, we could hike up, use a cabin near the top for NZ$5 for
the night, then hike back down the next day. It sounded like a great
adventure and we all began to excitedly plan al Duke of Edinburgh
Award Style-e Expedition.
However, after checking out the weather forecast, we found that
there was going to be large amounts of rain & fog over the next few
days. The walk really wouldn't be much fun in those conditions, but
as the Kiwi Experience route meant that we'd pass through Kaikoura
again, we crossed our fingers and hoped for better luck next time.
As the rain began to get worse, we headed back to the hostel and
spent the rest of the evening in the common room playing cards and
chatting with other backpackers.
Next Diary Entry >>
|
