North Island Day One
Day one of our North Island trip began in the South Island. The first leg of our journey would be spent on a bus to Christchurch. Hira took her exam that morning (psh I've been done with exams for a week!) while I continued to pack my things. Since we would be traveling with only one carry on and one personal item for an 8 day journey, I was confined to my two backpacks. Strapped in to two backpacks is quite the look I tell you what. One on the front and one on the back. For those of you meeting me at the airport in Denver, you will get to see me sport that get up then. Anyways, before we left, we had to say goodbye to our Kiwi host, Kim. She would be headed for home on November 5, one day before Hira and I return to Dunedin. In an attempt to be creative, we designed a mug for Kim using sharpies. We'd both seen the craft on Pinterest so we thought we would give it a try. We stuck it in the oven for 30 minutes or so and prayed it would work. Most of the instructions said to use oil-based sharpies for best results, but we only had regular sharpies. Oh well, shouldn't make that much of a difference right? Wrong. I pulled the mug out of the oven to reveal the purple drawings we had sketched on it before had faded to a light and barely visible tan color. Sweet. We presented the mug to Kim a little disappointed but she still thought it was cute. It's the thought that counts right??
2 o'clock rolled around and we had to head over to our bus stop. I wasn't really sure how I was going to react to saying goodbye to Kim. I was sad of course, but I didn't know what her reaction would be, and how it would affect me. Goodbyes are hard, especially when they are to someone you've been living with for four months. We all exchanged hugs and kept our composure pretty well. Now off to the bus stop for a 5 hour trip to the Christchurch Airport.
I later learned that I will not see my flat mate Bekah again either. She is departing for her own North Island trip and won't be back until after I leave for home, HOME home. I feel so terrible because neither one of us had no idea until it was too late. Even still, she was a great flat mate to have on this amazing journey in New Zealand :)
Our bus ride was fairly uneventful until we were almost to Oamaru. Staring out the window, as always, I noticed about 3 Ferraris and a few Porsches pass us on the other side of the road. They were covered in a bunch of racing stickers and logos. I was intrigued of course, but didn't think too much of it. Then even more sports cars passed us with similar decals - Mercedes, BMWs, Bentleys, Mustangs, Evos,etc. They continued to pass us, separated only by a "normal" car or two here and there. Hira is not into cars, and apparently no one else on the bus was either because I swear I was the only one that was freaking out! And it was then I realized what hanging out with Cory has done to me ;) About 10 minutes later when we were finally in Oamaru and stopped for a 30 minute break, the cars continued to zoom through the town. I did some research and discovered they were passing through Oamaru as part of the Targa South Rally. 210+ cars were passing through Oamaru from Christchurch onto Dunedin and ending in my favorite New Zealand city, Queenstown...sigh... if only I had known!
We arrived at the Christchurch Uni bus stop a few hours later after departing Oamaru. We had a decent walk to the airport, about 3 miles or so. Luckily we arrived in Christchurch just as the sun was setting, meaning we would still have some sunlight to accompany us on our walk. A stroll through some neighborhoods, a sketchy bathroom break and about an hour and a half later, we made it to the Christchurch International Airport. Our flight wasn't for another 12 hours. Hira had mentioned that they had cots for rent in the lounge for only $5. They kick you out when the terminal opens, but we decided it was a better (and much cheaper) idea than finding a hostel to stay the night at. Turns out that we didn't get cots, but bean bags. Yes, bean bags. I spent the night in the airport and slept on a bean bag. And I'm using "slept" quite loosely. Just closed my eyes for 5 hours would be more accurate. Every little move made you sink into the bean bag. And just about every hour, a security guard would come in and talk to the employee at the desk in the lounge, not whisper. Like hi what do you think all 15 of us are doing right now?! I think I got about an hour of actually sleep in total that night. It was quite ridiculous.
Thanks for sticking with me through this post! Sorry there aren't any photos. As always, I will write soon!
Day one of our North Island trip began in the South Island. The first leg of our journey would be spent on a bus to Christchurch. Hira took her exam that morning (psh I've been done with exams for a week!) while I continued to pack my things. Since we would be traveling with only one carry on and one personal item for an 8 day journey, I was confined to my two backpacks. Strapped in to two backpacks is quite the look I tell you what. One on the front and one on the back. For those of you meeting me at the airport in Denver, you will get to see me sport that get up then. Anyways, before we left, we had to say goodbye to our Kiwi host, Kim. She would be headed for home on November 5, one day before Hira and I return to Dunedin. In an attempt to be creative, we designed a mug for Kim using sharpies. We'd both seen the craft on Pinterest so we thought we would give it a try. We stuck it in the oven for 30 minutes or so and prayed it would work. Most of the instructions said to use oil-based sharpies for best results, but we only had regular sharpies. Oh well, shouldn't make that much of a difference right? Wrong. I pulled the mug out of the oven to reveal the purple drawings we had sketched on it before had faded to a light and barely visible tan color. Sweet. We presented the mug to Kim a little disappointed but she still thought it was cute. It's the thought that counts right??
2 o'clock rolled around and we had to head over to our bus stop. I wasn't really sure how I was going to react to saying goodbye to Kim. I was sad of course, but I didn't know what her reaction would be, and how it would affect me. Goodbyes are hard, especially when they are to someone you've been living with for four months. We all exchanged hugs and kept our composure pretty well. Now off to the bus stop for a 5 hour trip to the Christchurch Airport.
I later learned that I will not see my flat mate Bekah again either. She is departing for her own North Island trip and won't be back until after I leave for home, HOME home. I feel so terrible because neither one of us had no idea until it was too late. Even still, she was a great flat mate to have on this amazing journey in New Zealand :)
Our bus ride was fairly uneventful until we were almost to Oamaru. Staring out the window, as always, I noticed about 3 Ferraris and a few Porsches pass us on the other side of the road. They were covered in a bunch of racing stickers and logos. I was intrigued of course, but didn't think too much of it. Then even more sports cars passed us with similar decals - Mercedes, BMWs, Bentleys, Mustangs, Evos,etc. They continued to pass us, separated only by a "normal" car or two here and there. Hira is not into cars, and apparently no one else on the bus was either because I swear I was the only one that was freaking out! And it was then I realized what hanging out with Cory has done to me ;) About 10 minutes later when we were finally in Oamaru and stopped for a 30 minute break, the cars continued to zoom through the town. I did some research and discovered they were passing through Oamaru as part of the Targa South Rally. 210+ cars were passing through Oamaru from Christchurch onto Dunedin and ending in my favorite New Zealand city, Queenstown...sigh... if only I had known!
We arrived at the Christchurch Uni bus stop a few hours later after departing Oamaru. We had a decent walk to the airport, about 3 miles or so. Luckily we arrived in Christchurch just as the sun was setting, meaning we would still have some sunlight to accompany us on our walk. A stroll through some neighborhoods, a sketchy bathroom break and about an hour and a half later, we made it to the Christchurch International Airport. Our flight wasn't for another 12 hours. Hira had mentioned that they had cots for rent in the lounge for only $5. They kick you out when the terminal opens, but we decided it was a better (and much cheaper) idea than finding a hostel to stay the night at. Turns out that we didn't get cots, but bean bags. Yes, bean bags. I spent the night in the airport and slept on a bean bag. And I'm using "slept" quite loosely. Just closed my eyes for 5 hours would be more accurate. Every little move made you sink into the bean bag. And just about every hour, a security guard would come in and talk to the employee at the desk in the lounge, not whisper. Like hi what do you think all 15 of us are doing right now?! I think I got about an hour of actually sleep in total that night. It was quite ridiculous.
Thanks for sticking with me through this post! Sorry there aren't any photos. As always, I will write soon!