Back in Q'town

I am spending one more night in Queenstown. Not at the super-expensive motel I stayed in last, but at a hostel belonging to the same owner as in Franz Josef. I had such a positive impression from my stay there that I decided to try another of their locations. The room is OK (double bed!), but no luxuries this time. Back to shared bathroom, no TV, no kettle. On the plus side, it is really close to the motel where I left my heavy suitcase, so a nice short walk which is about what I could manage. Cities in NZ are never flat, and both Dunedin and Queenstown will give your calves a burning workout.

I checked out from my hostel in Dunedin at 10:30, then hung around and used their free wi-fi for an hour. Then it was time to get a $7 Chinese lunch and head over to the bus station. It's located at the bus garage in an industrial area beyond the railway station, so quite a walk across town. I was even more happy I didn't have to lug my big suitcase with me then!

Tomorrow is another early start. The bus to Christchurch leaves at 7:45 am. This will be a 11.5-hour journey, but I wanted to do it rather than go directly from Dunedin to Christchurch for two reasons. One was that I could leave my suitcase for a few days and not have to drag it up and down the hills of Dunedin. Number two was that the route from Queenstown to Christchurch goes up on Mount Cook, New Zealand's tallest mountain, and that should be worth the long day. I've already seen its peak from the West Coast, now I'll see it from the other side too.

Christchurch will be my last stop in NZ. I was there as well 5 1/2 years ago, and I actually left five days before the big earthquake in September 2010. The city has been hit by several more quakes and aftershocks since, and the rebuilding is going very slowly, I've heard. Even the government has criticised the city council for taking so long to restart the economy. It will be a sad interesting to see the city again and compare with my memories from last time. I know that the Cathedral was partly destroyed.

I will be sorry to leave NZ. This is such a beautiful country and I could happily stay for ever. Sadly, that's easier said than done. I am honestly less excited about Australia than NZ, but I'm sure I will enjoy it also. I'll only be visiting cities though, no venturing into the outback. Australia has the most poisonous spiders and snakes on the planet, plus crocodiles, scorpions, sharks, stingrays, kangaroos (they kick!), and the hole in the ozone layer. A veritable deathtrap. So if I stop blogging before I've returned to Europe, you'll know why. Alert the authorities!