As mentioned I booked a bus to Christchurch and was on my way to Blenheim. Friends of mine had recently gotten jobs on a vineyard close by and I planned to meet them there to work together.
The bus left in the morning with a very chatty bus driver telling us many things about the towns we were passing and talking about the roads and so on. Other than that the ride was boring.
We finally arrived back in Chch and I had to understand how the new cool complex for public buses works. It had bays you could only enter, if a bus was there and the sections were numbered and had letters to somehow categorize them aswell. I finally found the bay I needed and took the bus to my hostel close to the airport. I chose that one, because I had gotten a relocation car from Chch Airport to Blenheim. Relocating means you don't pay a rental fee and take a car from A to B (where it's needed). Problem is, that the insurance has a high excess fee - so I payed extra to make that zero. And of course I had to return it with a full tank, so that cost as well. So not completely for free after all...
I stayed for a night in a very new hostel. They had "sleeping pods" and no bunk beds. So basically all beds were built into the wall and had many nice gadgets to play with. USB chargers, dimable lights and a fan/ AC which was horribly loud. And all beds had blinds to make it dark and not be disturbed by the outside. Also under each bed they had lockers which were lockable with a pin you could set yourself! That was neat, no key needed! And big enough to store my backpack and stuff. Nothing had to be laying around!
Unfortunately they were really long and in the back was no light. I used my phone and found a camera in the back! Apparently someone had fogotten it all the way in the back... I hope he or she gets it back and didn't leave New Zealand already! D=
The bus left in the morning with a very chatty bus driver telling us many things about the towns we were passing and talking about the roads and so on. Other than that the ride was boring.
We finally arrived back in Chch and I had to understand how the new cool complex for public buses works. It had bays you could only enter, if a bus was there and the sections were numbered and had letters to somehow categorize them aswell. I finally found the bay I needed and took the bus to my hostel close to the airport. I chose that one, because I had gotten a relocation car from Chch Airport to Blenheim. Relocating means you don't pay a rental fee and take a car from A to B (where it's needed). Problem is, that the insurance has a high excess fee - so I payed extra to make that zero. And of course I had to return it with a full tank, so that cost as well. So not completely for free after all...
I stayed for a night in a very new hostel. They had "sleeping pods" and no bunk beds. So basically all beds were built into the wall and had many nice gadgets to play with. USB chargers, dimable lights and a fan/ AC which was horribly loud. And all beds had blinds to make it dark and not be disturbed by the outside. Also under each bed they had lockers which were lockable with a pin you could set yourself! That was neat, no key needed! And big enough to store my backpack and stuff. Nothing had to be laying around!
Unfortunately they were really long and in the back was no light. I used my phone and found a camera in the back! Apparently someone had fogotten it all the way in the back... I hope he or she gets it back and didn't leave New Zealand already! D=
I didn't forget anything there, but sadly my SD card "broke". I was using my tablet, then answered a text on my phone and suddenly my tablet said the card isn't readable... Whaaaat?!
I tried taking it out and putting it back in, putting it into my phone, nothing... damnit... Not good! Many fotos, music and stuff was on there. Luckily my dropbox sychronises all my fotos from my phone, so they are somewhat safe and not all lost. Still VERY annoying and uncool.
Later I was able to use the laptop of Oliver (one of the friends in Blenheim) and get some of the files, fotos and music back. But they were all renamed (into a series of letters and numbers), so it'll be fun to get them all sorted....
I tried taking it out and putting it back in, putting it into my phone, nothing... damnit... Not good! Many fotos, music and stuff was on there. Luckily my dropbox sychronises all my fotos from my phone, so they are somewhat safe and not all lost. Still VERY annoying and uncool.
Later I was able to use the laptop of Oliver (one of the friends in Blenheim) and get some of the files, fotos and music back. But they were all renamed (into a series of letters and numbers), so it'll be fun to get them all sorted....
Other than the cool beds, the place had a big common room, which looked cool, was nicely designed, though the kitchen wasn't good. They had all sorts of neat tech in there (dishwashers and many cupboards), but the dishwashers were constantly full and no one bothered washing because there were dishwashers. The cupboards were almost all empty and only consisted of a few pans and pots, which were all small. So you couldn't make a bigger portion of pasta, if you were cooking for a group for example... And the fridges were also too small for the size of the hostel. But I managed. A nice touch was, that they had secured plenty of space for "free stuff".
After a night in the sleeping pod I went to the airport and picked up my ride. It was a big toyota, like an SUV. Crazy. So I rolled up to the hostel next to backpackers cars (all very used, some with ducttape holding parts together etc) and then my flashy big car, all new and shiny. I had hoped to find people to share the ride with, but it didn't work out. Apparently no one went up the same route at the same time as me...
So I drove alone. After making a few rounds in Christchurch to get fully used to the left hand drive again and to the big car, I headed out to the north once again taking the same road I had taken not even a month ago.
So I drove alone. After making a few rounds in Christchurch to get fully used to the left hand drive again and to the big car, I headed out to the north once again taking the same road I had taken not even a month ago.
This is the car I drove up to Blenheim
In between I stopped somewhere to finally get the bluetooth working to enjoy my music and it worked! I was starting to head into the no radio zone so I needed some entertainment. Unfortunatly the roads in the centre of the island are all small and now of course overrun with cars, trucks and busses, since the coast highway was closed because of the earthquake last year. And some trucks drove very slowly through the terrain. Most of the time the roads were great and no issues other than sharp curves and the road going up and down all the time. I used the cruise control alot, which makes driving soooo much easier and relaxing. Additionally I had an automatic, so I didn't even have to shift gears.
On the way I did 2 short stops, one at the crossing between the road to the west coast and the other to the north, the second at a small waterfall. I did a short walk there and took a few fotos. Nothing big. I was more concerned into getting back on the road before I end up stuck behind a truck again!
The waterfall I stopped at on the way to Blenheim
After I walked down I got this view of the waterfall
About 4 hours after leaving Christchurch I finally arrived in Blenheim. The last hour was only flat terrain so everyone started speeding. Sometimes even big trucks started racing with over 110 km/h past me. The limit is 100 km/h in New Zealand. I was quite suprised but didn't want to go faster and just put on the cruise control and relaxed, singing along to my music!
Random pic of the day: Car I saw in the Christchurch - amazing license plate
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