Sunday 27th July
I must have had about two hours slight sleep before the alarm went off and I had to be up. I left the hostel just before eight, and the shocking weather of the night before had carried on to the morning. It was miserable, really rotten. I was picked up by the bus and we set off north towards our destination of Kaikoura, a coastal town famous for its whale-watching opportunities.
There wasn't very much to see on the way to Kaikoura, and anything that the driver pointed out was shrouded in rain. Most of us were feeling tired, or hungover, from the night before, and we were just keen to get to Kaikoura and relax. Some of us put our names down for the whale-watching trip, but this was hopeful considering the day that was in it. We got to Kaikoura at 12.30 and I checked into the 'Dusky Lodge' hostel along with a few others on the bus, including Beth who I had been out with the night before.
It was the last time that the Magic Bus was to drop me off and I was glad that the time had come to say goodbye. I didn't regret buying the ticket as it got me from A to B at a reasonable rate, but it didn't provide the same experience that I had when I was touring about with Danike in the rental car. Also, it hadn't proved to be as much fun as the Easyrider bus that I had taken in Australia.
We had to contact the company that did the whale-watching cruises to find out whether it was going ahead, but we already had an idea what the answer was going to be before we were told that all of the trips for the day had been cancelled. So, we spent the rest of the day indoors, relaxing, reading and sleeping in front of the fire, like a bunch of old people in a retirement home.
After dinner, I went for a walk, frustrated at being couped up all day. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and it was a nice fresh evening for a walk into the main street. Most of the shops and restaurants were closed down, making it a proper sleepy seaside town. It was good to stretch the legs and have a look at what was on offer in Kaikoura. I got back to the hostel and chatted to Beth for a bit before I went to bed at 22.00. I was really knackered having had pretty much no sleep the night before, and I conked out shortly after my head hit the pillow.
