I left Picton on Monday and traveled by Atomic Shuttle, a local bus service on South Island. I bought a pass that allows me to book on line and it is roughly USD$7 per hour traveled. An added bonus is that they will stop at your hotel to pick you up, so no lugging 20kg bags down the street. At least not yet.
V Rod and other Harleys
Atomic Shuttle in KiaKoura
The journey takes about 5 hours and the service is designed to connect with one of the ferries from North Island. The route is down the east coast via Kiakoura which is famous for whale watching and being able to swim with dolphins. I will probably try to come back up this coast on my return. There was some great surf (to watch rather than be in!) and seals sunning themselves on the rocks. We will see what time allows.
We reached Christchurch around 6.45pm and I am going to stay with a son of a family friend from the UK. Now I have not seen Tom since he was about 8 and he just turned 40 I think. He is currently house sitting ina place called Sumner which is about 12km out of Christchurch. The owners are visiting family in Egnland for a couple of weeks.
What a place. It is a couple of km out of Sumner and is on a steep hill/bluff. I estimate that it is about 500 ft above the ocean with a fabulous view and the house has a pool and tennis courts and a killer view.
Seeing as how he did not know me from Adam it is very kind of him to offer a room and also to cook an excellent risotto when I arrived. I did come bearing some wine and beer and we spent a pleasent evening getting to know each other. He is consulting with the local government in Christchurch on IT issues, so I have had the house to myself and taken the opportunity to catch up on laundry and some trip planning.
Way steep narrow driveway in Sumner
I also walked down (and back up the very steep road) to see the village, so I got my exercise for the day.. Now I am having a beer to make up for it!.
I have decided to extend my stay (again) until the 24th and reduce the time available in Australia. I am staggered by how much there is to see and do and know I will only just be scratching the surface after 3 weeks or more and just focusing on South Island. I will be taking the TranzAlpine train on Thursday and then making my way down the west coast to Queenstown and Te Anau which is the gateway to Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound in Fjordland in the very southwest. Not sure after that!
Visiting Christchurch tomorrow. It is billed as a "traditional English town in the south" We will see.
