Aoraki/Mount Cook

So 11.5 hours on the coach from Queenstown to Christchurch. I was rather disappointed by Mount Cook Village. Firstly because it is not a village, only a cluster of hotels, and second, it wasn't particularly close to the mountain face. In fact, looking at Google Maps, it wasn't much closer than Fox Glacier as the crow flies! The journey via Mount Cook would normally cost $211, but with my travel pass I paid significantly less. I would probably have felt a bit cheated had I paid full whack. Having said that, the one hour stop at Mount Cook was still pleasant. I kicked off my shoes and socks and lay back on the grass, absorbing maximum Vitamin D. Yes it was another beautifully sunny day. Supposedly it was 14 degrees there, but hardly any wind so it felt a lot warmer. No complaints! I should be alright for colorectal and breast cancer now, but of course might get melanoma instead...

Shortly after leaving Queenstown in the morning, we made our first stop in Cromwell, a.k.a. the fruit basket of the South. We stopped at Mrs. Jones's fruit stall, which had a small table of free samples which was quickly swarmed with Chinese tourists. I bought a nashi pear, which tastes like a mix of pear and apple, and a peacherine (a cross between peach/nectarine). Very nice.

That was my last coach trip in NZ. My next long-distance transportation will be an airplane across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne. I am on the whole very pleased with all the travel I've done here, especially on the South Island. I think I chose all the right stopovers, and the right length of stay as well. As mentioned before, the bus passes I bought saved me quite a bit of money compared to buying single tickets, so I am happy with the cost of travel. The cost of local public transport has raised my eyebrows however, way over the odds I would say. Queenstown takes the biscuit, with their $33 1-day pass! The Intercity bus drivers provide generous commentary along the way, so although the company is like National Express, they do make an effort to provide a good experience for tourists. The coaches also seem to stop at pretty much any hotel and hostel on request, which would have been an added bonus had I known about it when I booked my trips!

Shortly before we finally arrived in Christchurch, I got a text from AirBnB. My intended host in Melbourne cancelled my reservation - with only three days notice! I was really not impressed. My stay in Melbourne seems to have been cursed from the beginning. First an old friend from way back offered me to stay with him. Then a work trip came up, so I booked on AirBnB instead. And now they cancelled with "unforeseen circumstances" as excuse. More like someone booked a longer stay and they followed the money! Call me a cynic if you will. So mad dash to find something else to avoid sleeping under a bridge in three days! I was lucky to find another option on AirBnB and they just confirmed, so here's hoping for third time lucky! I really don't fancy staying four nights in a homeless shelter or on a park bench... This other accommodation is in Moonee Ponds, which is rather funny if you're familiar with a certain suburban housewife slash megastar...

Before arriving at the new bus station in Christchurch we did a tour of the city's hotels... And when the driver turned into Cathedral Square I couldn't believe it. There was nothing there!! All the buildings I still remember surrounding the square were gone. So was half of the Cathedral itself. Ever since that big earthquake I so narrowly missed in 2010, Christchurch has been hit by thousands of earthquakes and aftershocks. The latest earthquake took place only two days ago, with several aftershocks... It was the strongest since 2011.