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'Retracting' Sunlight
Queenstown -> Christchurch
, 6th & 7th December 2001.
Our Kiwi Experience bus passes meant that we needed to pass through
a few stops twice (click here to see the route). Christchurch was
the first of our repeat visits.
We got up early today because the journey between Queenstown &
Christchurch is a long one so the bus leaves at the crack of dawn.
Unfortunately, we forgot to get back our key deposits the night
before and reception isn't open until an hour after we've left. Darn
it, that's $10 each gone, have to make sure we don't repeat that
mistake again. ALWAYS check what time reception opens, if you're
leaving before they open, get your key deposit back the evening
before.
The journey to Christchurch was fairly quiet, especially for a Kiwi
Experience bus. We made one stop at a beautiful clear, blue lake.
The driver said the bright blue colour is due to lime on the bottom
making the sunlight "retract". I think he meant "refract" but I
didn't argue. Next to the lake was the tiniest church we'd ever
seen. Pretty unremarkable, but apparently its the most photographed
church in New Zealand. People come from all over the world to get
married there. Hmmm - appearances ARE deceiving.
When we get into Christchurch, it felt like home, both because
Christchurch is a very 'English' city and because we'd been there
before. With the usual competitive spirit between drivers when 2
Kiwi Experience buses are doing the same leg at the same time, our
driver tried to overtake the other bus, which was slightly ahead. He
drove over a small bridge, parallel to the lane the other bus was
in. He managed to sneak ahead, but he also ended up cutting up 2
cars and getting stuck round the corner. He turned too late and
didn't leave enough room for the turning circle!
When we eventually arrived at our hostel, the award-winning "Stonehurst"
we checked in. Fortunately, this place had a 24 hour reception, so
we'll be able to get back our key deposits easily. It was a very
impressive hostel so we spent a while just chilling there. After
about an hour we headed down town to explore a little.
We've been told that if we book our ferry tickets (for the Picton-Wellington
crossing) in Christchurch, we can make substantial savings. We
managed to get our tickets for $36 when the standard price is about
$50! Woot! All travellers should remember this point! Make sure you
know what date & time you want though, because you can't change it
without losing half of your money!
As I was feeling a bit lethargic, I decided I needed a run to boost
my energy levels. Christchurch has some really nice, huge parks. So
I took a run around them. After a refreshing run through lovely
scenery I got back to the hostel. We all popped down to the Net Cafe
for a bit (using our free hour vouchers) then we headed back to the
hostel for the night.
The next day was a real lazy day. We got up ridiculously late,
enjoying a much needed lie in. The main event of the day was a visit
to a huge supermarket to stock up on supplies. Ever since we arrived
in New Zealand, we'd all grown a sudden love for Pic'n'mix sweets
and we bought a big bag every time we were in the supermarket. This
supermarket had a huge selection of sweets & we had a fun time
picking out what we wanted. We are just big kids really.
We also posted some things back home today. New Zealand doesn't have
a 'sea mail' option, so posting parcels is quite expensive,
especially for backpackers on a budget, but it had to be done. We
had far too many souvenirs to continue carrying around with us.
We just bummed about for the rest of the day. When we returned to
our room for the night, we met the 2 new people in our dorm, a young
Canadian couple. They were really friendly and quite funny. During
the night, the guy started talking loudly in his sleep so the girl
reached across from her bunk and thumped him, whispering loudly 'Shuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttt
Uuuuppppppppp!' He He!
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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