Our return to a life of 'bus-ing' around the south island began again abruptly at 6.45am and we were eased back in by a day-long stint to Christchurch, with brief stops at Cromwell - the town furthest from the sea in New Zealand - and Lake Pukaiki where we attempted to get photos of Mount Cook (aka the cloud piercer) but failed because, ironically, it was obscured by cloud. Our final stop was a very quick lunch break in Geraldine, a nondescript town whose only claim to fame is being the location for the knitting of the world's biggest cardigan. I say no more. The fact that it was the best weather we have seen since arriving in New Zealand only served to heighten my disgruntlement. Think I am starting to get cabin fever from being on this bus, starting to feel its restrictions. Every five minutes, I want to call the great lumbering vehicle to a standstill, hop off and go exploring. There seems to be so much more to this country than the location for the knitting of the world's greatest cardigan and I desperately want to experience it...frankly all these towns and cities are becoming something of a hindrance to this ideal. There is something so liberating about a country in which you can be so far from civisilation, it seems to me to be a rare luxury in today's world. I think I can safely say this will not be my only trip to New Zealand and that next time, I will go it alone! Nothing for it now though but to accept my fate as a prisoner of the Kiwi Experience bus, hope for better things in the north island and head into Christchurch to spend the afternoon in the admittedly beautiful Botanic Gardens.
Our second stop in Kaikoura the next night was no more eventful than the first and we were therefore happy to be on the bus again in the morning (for once) and heading back to
Picton where this time we boarded a ferry and headed over the high seas with high hopes for the north island...
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