Back At The Top Spot Of New Zealand
Christchurch -> Kaikoura, 8th December 2001
We were ready far too early for the Kiwi Experience bus today, after
30 minutes of sitting around we all boarded and headed off. The
drive was quite short and as we drove, the rain started to fall,
great :o( . That's not fair! The driver, a surfy guy with long,
curly, blonde hair, assured us that it was sunny in Kaikoura. Yeah
right, they always say that.
 During the journey, when we were filling out the forms for
accommodation, Em managed to run to the front and grab spaces for
all of us in 'Topspot'. This was the hostel we stayed in last time
we were in Kaikoura. It was a fantastic place and we were desperate
to stay there again, but I think everyone else had the same idea. We
also wanted to make sure we were all in the same room so we made a
plan for Nat & Em to rush in as soon as we got there and book 4
beds, while Stinge and I went through the long process of getting
the bags off the bus. However, everyone else seemed to have the same
idea, and as Em & Nat ran to the hostel, everyone seemed to be in
front of them. Oh no! However, as they went through the front door,
all the others (who hadn't been to Topspot before) ran straight down
the corridor, past the check in and accidentally into the toilets!
Laughing to themselves, Em & Nat turned right before the toilets and
through the kitchen to where the lady was waiting to check us all
in!
 After we got the bags, we threw them in the room then headed down to
the shops. We had decided to climb Mount Fyffe tomorrow, a 1600m
peak, quite big, but manageable for us. Therefore, we needed to grab
some light & quick-cook foods. We strolled down town, enjoying the
burning hot sun. Yeay! The driver hadn't been lying!
While we were down town, Stinge decided to pop down to the pub for
the afternoon. Gary, the guy from the same home town as us, headed
off with him. Less than an hour after Stinge saying 'I'm going to
cut down what I spend on drink' he had disappeared to the boozer for
a 'big sesh'... About 3 hours later, he returned, swaying all over
the place with bloodshot eyes & a massive grin. He then collapsed on
his bed. Hmmm, well, at least he must have enjoyed himself...
Afterwards, we popped into the Tourist Office to sort the details
for the climb tomorrow. About 1100m up Mount Fyffe is a little hut
where hikers can stay for the night while climbing the mountain and
it only costs NZ$5 each to stay there! When we tried to book a bed
there, the lady said that it was going to rain tomorrow (typical!)
so we should wait until tomorrow to decide if we still wanted to
climb it. Fair enough.
I had also booked a place for a Wale Watching boat trip on the 11th,
so I wandered down to the office to make sure I knew where it was.
Luckily I did this because it was quite hard to find and a bit of a
hike away!
When we got back to the hostel, we chilled a bit in the lounge room,
watching TV with the other backpackers. We also watched my Skydiving
& Bungee Jumping videos. They're great! There's loads of adverts on
the tapes, but they were definitely worth the extra money! The
skydiving video especially, is really cheesy, but it made a great
souvenir!
After a few hours of telly & chatting we headed off to bed...
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