Saturday 26th July
I got up to a beautifully sunny and clear day. Although I was happy to have a good day, I was also slightly disappointed that it had come a day late and I imagined it would have been a perfect day for getting a sight of Mount Cook. Nonetheless, I was still happy that I had made the effort to go there, and I was the only one from the Magic Bus to do so, and it had been well worth it.
I walked down to the YHA hostel and the Magic Bus picked us up at 08.10 and we set off for the journey to Christchurch. There wasn't a huge amount to see along the way and we got to Christchurch at 12.30. I checked into 'The Old Countryhouse' hostel, a bit of walk away from the town centre, but another quiet and well-run place. I got talking to the very friendly Swiss lady who worked at reception and she loved the fact that I was Irish, so much so that any time I said anything she laughed at my Irish wit, even when it wasn't particularly funny. I wasn't about to knock it though.
After an hour or so, I walked into town and met Kate and Beth, two English girls that I had met on the bus earlier in the day, and we went to the Art Museum, and saw an interesting photography exhibition. We didn't hang about for too long, and went to the supermarket to pick up a few things for dinner. Out of all the supermarkets in New Zealand, 'Pak n Save' is the cheapest and most basic of them all and, even though you can get some good bargains, it isn't the most pleasant of places to be.
I got back to the hostel and made some dinner, did some laundry and called Dave to wish him a happy birthday. He told me that he was off to the Olympics with work, which I was delighted to hear, making him and me two lucky bastards! I got showered and changed and headed into town on a miserably wet and cold night to meet the Magic Bus crowd to watch the grudge match between the All Blacks and Australia. It turned out to be a very entertaining and high-scoring game, but the ABs were pretty terrible and the Wallabies ended up wiping the floor with them. Needless to say, there were a few sad Kiwis leaving the pub after that result.
We stayed out for a few more hours and I made my way back to the hostel for only a few hours kip before I had to be up again for the last leg of my Magic Bus journey, and the trip up the coast to Kaikoura.
