The morning I decided to leave Franz, Mother Nature decided to perspire, dramatically. And to make matters worse we'd missed the bus. So we stood under the bus shelter and ran out into the road with our thumbs out every time a car came past... which was about every eight minutes. I knew NZ would be hard to hitchhike, but to cut a long story short three hours later me and Stef (the English girl) were picked up by some friendly Spanish guys. A father and son out traveling together in a campervan. Awwwww, bit of male bonding! these guys were only going to Greymouth though... I wanted to get to Kaikoura (300km east as the crow flies). By the time we got to Greymouth Stef was tired and booked into a hostel, but I knew Greymouth was a dump (it even has a dump-y name) so I bid her farewell and asked the information centre how much a bus to Christchurch would be. $75. Bugger that. So I hitched, and it was much easier this time. i think Stef was cramping my hitching mojo. It only took twenty minutes before a surfer dude picked me up on his way to Christchurch. My journey to Kaikoura was a 'Z' shape, but it was the only way to get there. Christchurch was over 250km drive away, but it was one hell of a drive. The surfer was called Nick (I met a lot of Nicks) and he knew everything about NZ, seriously. We didn't stop talking until we were in Christchurch, 3-4 hours later. We stopped off at his house and had a coffee with his family. his wife was there, his son, and his grandson.... Now Nick looked a maximum of 30 years old, and his wife looked barely 27 but there they were, grandparents... his wife was the most gorgeous grandmom I have ever seen (sorry Grandma) and they were all lovely. Anyway, after a little rest stop Nick zoomed me into Christchurch city centre and pointed out the best places to stay. Christchurch was a bit bland and a very quiet night out, but I did get to do some street performing with a German busker. he had some fire poi, so I (obviously) joined in for a while. I earned him a few extra bucks i think!
Early the next morning I decided to get out pretty swift so headed to another information centre. One way bus to kaikoura: $54. Bugger that. So I walked out to the highway and hitched again. the day to follow was one of the most beautiful but also one of the most frustrating days of the whole trip. Kaikoura is 180km from Christchurch. It is one long road with only small towns along the way the break the highway. But it still took five different cars, a whole day and a lot of walking to get me to Kaikoura. People who picked me up lived in the weirdest of places. One stopped in the middle of nowhere and said "Right, out you get... I turn off here." It was a one way dirt track to the left with no civilization on the horizon. So I walked, for the best part of two hours with my bag on my back to find somewhere with houses. This was essential, I found out, as people are very suspicious of a young man trying to hitch in the middle of nowhere when only one or two cars pass in ten minutes. So, I sat outside a farming complex and tried my luck. The walk there was hot and sweaty but it was beautiful. I saw endless rows of grape trees in perfect lines, growing for the wine harvest in the summer. I saw fields of sheep and rolling hills, great big boulders growing out of the ground, the same seen in the Lord of the Rings movies. Finally, after picking my spot, a car pulled in and picked me up. I was shocked at this one... I had seen campervans, snowboarder's cars, SUVs and 4x4s all drive past with plenty of room in them, yet it was a guy in his eighties that stops to help me out. A completely defenceless man, and a total sweet heart. He had just been in Christchurch for some sort of prostate cancer check up or something and was heading home. I loved that old guy, but he was a rubbish driver. He said his favourite thing to do in his car was to hit the rumble strip on the inside of the road, which he demonstrated several times at 100km/h plus. He, again dropped me off before Kaikoura in a little village and wished me the best.
Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one trying to hitch from Christchurch to Kaikoura. There was a Dutch guy doing the same, and he joined me on a fence post to head North. We chatted for a while before an MX5 pulled in and offered one of us a lift (it's a convertible sports car :D woo!) i was given first choice, but I met the dutch guy later in our backpackers in Kaikoura. Amazingly my bags fitted into the car (his boot was full) and we drove on. "We can put the roof down if you like?" He said. obviously we did. He was called Nick (told you there were a few of them), a slender very well spoken IT consultant. He was coming back from Christchurch after, and I quote, "Getting my tits pierced." I thought it was quite forward to tell me that but he soon followed up by saying it was nothing compared to his Prince Albert. Despite being very camp and a bit of a worry at times, he was also lovely and we catted long and intellectual things about the economical structure of NZ. It was great fun. I finally got to Kaikoura, and settled into Adelphi lodge backpackers. I was almost put off by the name resembling Delphi Diesel but I'm glad I gave it a show, because it was the most homey and welcoming hostel I've been in so far, with two lovely old ladies names Barbra and Phyllis. I think these two ladies made the stay there twice as good, and I would go back to Kaikoura in an instant. That night I settled in slowly, eat some vegetable soup Barbra cooked for me and went to bed.
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