I need to stop starting every day of this diary with 'I woke up', I mean that happens every day. Though it does seem to be the logical place to start each day's entry ...
This morning had no alarm clock, but the sound of the shower woke me up in plenty of time for me to grab a shower and breakfast and be packed and ready to go for 8.25am
This was somewhat aided by my reorganising which 'block' went where, so that now the least used items were at the bottoms, and the most used items near the top. Somehow doing all of that has also resulted in my appearing to have more room over all in the rucksack, which bodes well for being able to carry at least one or two souvenirs!
Leonie advised me that I didn't snore as much last night, I'm not sure if this is due to having done so much during the day, or if it was due to not having a snoring companion encouraging me along!
The skies were blue as I made my way to the bus stop, and I thought that it looked like a great day to go and see the glacier close up, but I had already booked on to the bus and the next connections all relied on me catching it. As I left, I could tell the helicopters were already making their flights to the glaciers for the 'walk on the glacier' type tours.
I said my good byes to Leonie, and we joked that we might cross paths in Cambodia - though that is less likely as our schedules are somewhat different - but the whole thing is unplanned for us both really so you never know what might happen!
At the bus stop, I saw a group of people who were on the same Queenstown to Franz Josef bus as me, so we got talking and cmmented about the fact that we should have all stayed 2 days in Franz instead of just the one!
The bus arrived to the pick up late, as it had been waiting at one of the accomodation places for a passenger who was at this stop. There was then further confusion when it looked like someone had managed to get on the bus without checking in. This was further complicated by the fact that when the bus driver did his head count, there were 37 of us on the bus but 38 of us checked in.
All was revealed when it turned out that the passenger who had got on without checking in, was actually on the check in list twice! With that mystery resolved, the driver set off, and reassured everyone that the bus would reach the train station with plenty of time to spare, on account of the fact that the actual travel time for the bus was about an hour shorter than the timetable allocation, meaning there were 20 minute stops and 40 minute stops along the way, which could be shortened.
As such, we stopped almost straight away at Lake Mapourika, where I could have gone kayaking. Unlike Bruce Bay, this was quite picturesque, though that may have had a lot to do with the weather, so I took the opportunity to take in the reflective views. This was only a 5 minute stop to put us on schedule, so it looked like the timetable included flex to allow people to get confused between pickup points in Franz Josef.
We stopped in Harihari for 20 minutes for a refreshment break, and to also ensure we were still not ahead of schedule, though the earl grey I had was so hot that I struggled to finish it in the allocated time, having ordered it to sit in, based on the fact that all the other coaches had a rule of not hot food or drinks - this driver seemed to be more relaxed though and encouraged people to put their drinks in to take away containers.
We continued on the way north, and passed an area just south of Ross which was still being mined (open cast) for gold. As we went through Ross, the driver advised that Ross is where the biggest ever nugget of gold was found, weighing in at 3kg. It was almost tempting to just jump off the boat and try and search for gold myself, though I suspect there are probably laws against taking nature's bountiful resources for myself when big companies are trying to achieve it on a massive scale in the same place!
We made it in to Hokitika for 11.55am, and I wondered if it was going to be possible to check in to the hostel so early. I ququed for the loo, (there was only one public one in the area, which consisted of one unisex stall), and then went to the supermarket to buy some rice to put my phone in It was only $1.55, so even if it didn't work I figured it wasn't much of an expense to try. By the time I got to the hostel it was 10 past 12, and the staff there advised me that I could indeed check in.
I dumped my bags in the room and made up some lunch with the food I had left from Franz, and then went to sort out my bed for the night. I met Patrick in the room, who was on a working visa from Cologne in Germany, but was about to go home as his visa had run out.
I went to the i-site to try and figure out what I was going to do in Christchurch, though as the staff were mostly trained up for the council, and for tourism on the west coast instead of east coast, they were only really able to supply me with leaflets to figure it out on my own.
I found out that there was a Kiwi Experience in town, so decided to take advantage of it, as it was probably my last chance to see a Kiwi in New Zealand - and by now I had decided that I couldn't come all this way and /not/ see a Kiwi!
The staff were very helpful, and when I took out my change to determine if I was going to pay by cash or card, they allowed me entry for half the normal price, on the grounds that I had come on the bus from Franz, and that I could therefore qualify for the discount that the passengers who only have 40 minutes get.
I was disappointed to find out that I wasn't going to be allowed to photograph them, but they did give me free photos of the Kiwis. The exhibition mostly consisted of water based animals like turtles and fish, though there were some splendid looking Toataras which obliged me with posing nicely for the camera!
I found the Kiwi exhibit, and was able to see the male after a bit of searching. He seemed to be fairly quiet, hiding behind a bush and prodding the ground with his beak. It was too dark to see very well, and I culd see why they said no photographs - it would have been impossible to take a photo without using a flash, and of course, the flash would have upset the birdand/or damaged its eyes. I suspect that you need a very expensive piecve of kit to be able to capture an image.
I went round a bit and found the female, who was much more energetic, running around the enclosure, digging in the soil for grubs with her beak, clearly demonstrating why it's like that. I would liken them to being a reasonably large haggis with a beak! They were much bigger than I expected. Again, even though this part was slightly brighter, only specialist camera equipment would have been able to get a photo without a flash, so I felt that the rule of not being allowed at all was fully justified
It was almost feeding time by this point, so I went back to the Giant Eel exhibit and up the stairs, just in time to be invited to feed the eels. These monsters were much more gentle than the smaller ones at the north Island centre, I took the opportunity to ask why the two kiwis were being kept separated, given that since there is an effort to revitalise the population, you'd expect them to be together.
It turns out that it's a serious case of domestic abuse - the female Kiwi is overly territorial, and attacks the poor male if they are ever put together, so much so that he hides in his box and refuses to come out. Later on when I left, the staff members described hearing banging noises and went to investigate it and it was her attacking him, so they have to keep them apart from each other.
I was also advised that the male used to be more active but had become unwilling to eat very much and underweight, so they sent him to the University of Canterbury vets, When he came back, he seemed more timid/shy than before, and was 1kg overweight, and since then has been hard to encourage to be very active, but they're trying to re-settle him by hand feeding him.
I went to watch the feeding of the kiwis, and the male was taking the food from the carer's hand. There was a group of people also there for the feeding but hadn't realised there was another enclosure with the female, so I directed them there, as it was so dark some of them couldn't even really see the male kiwi at all. They were glad of that, as it seemed it was also their last chance to see a Kiwi in New Zealand!
After the kiwi encounter, I decided to head to the library, which I had been advised had free internet until 5pm, which afforded me the opportunity to book accomodation and possibly some things to do in Christchurch. When I got to the library, all the computers were in use, so I booked a slot, and then sought out a brd identification book to try and identify some of the birds I had seen and photographed and/or been unable to photograph.
I successfully identified the photographed ones (specifically the male house sparrow that was making a nest in the stop before Fox Glacier), and think that the raptor that I've been seeing without chance to pture on film for later identification, is either a pomarine skua, or an australian harrier - though given how it's flying I think the harrier is more likely.
I booked in to a hostel called 'Kiwi House' in Christchurch , and identified a few potential candidates for where I might be able to get areplacement phone, as well as possible places for second hand phones, and what was in my price range. I decided that I would probably go for a Sony xPeria XA since the reviews seemed to say it was waterproof, and it was only $400.
I also looked up the insurance claim number and policy details for claiming on my bank insurance for the phone - establishing that they will replace the unit with a refurbished one when I am back, assuming they authorise the claim.
With those essentials out of the way, I started to book a few activities to do in Akaroa, and was surprised when my credit card declined. I quickly logged on, and discovered that the balance was just below my credit limit, so not enough funds for the Akaroa stuff. This was a surprise as I had expected a payment to come out, but then I remembered that payment isn't due until at least a month after the transactions - so I would have to use my other cards, which I didn't have on me at the time.
I went back to the supermarket to look for something to make for dinner, and was struggling to think of anything, but then remembered that I had 3 cans of tuna that I hadn't even broken in to, so I bought 5 packets of noodles for a very reasonable price of not very much at all, it was so unremarkable that I didn't even note down the price!
I went for a wander along the beach as it was still brilliant blue skies and sunshine, but I soon found that without a acket, the wind was very cold, so I went back to the hostel.
I made up 2 of the packets of noodles with 2 of the cans of tuna, and fairly chomped through it quickly, then went to the room to sort through the photos on the camera, ready for uploading when I had a device to allow it again. Despite it only being 7pm, I felt the need for a snooze though, so went for a nap, and ended up sleeping through to the next morning