Tina & Tony M, Gladstone Tce, Invercargill, via airbnb
Saturday, February 9: Christchurch: A little chilly, fog, drizzle
Dunedin and Invercargill: Sunny and warm
Outside the Railway Station, Dunedin
Up at 6:00 to throw everything into the suitcase; Matt was up at half past and after loading L. still asleep into the children’s seat, we were off just after 7:00. I left the fire cans at Matt’s, who thinks he might improve on them by the next visit.
Fog was rolling into Hagley Park, and as there was not much traffic, everything was eerily quiet. We were in good time despite one false turn, and I had to wait around a bit before the bus decided to turn up. Checking in was no problem and with my suitcase safely stored in the boot I chose a seat in the bus being careful to make sure it wasn’t like the first one I had put myself into, which had promptly fallen apart. One no-show at the main stop outside the museum, one at a later stop, then we were on the main road out and into the suboptimal weather.
Stop for a pee in Ashburton for five minutes, dropped off and picked up a couple of people along the way. We stopped in Oamaru for a longer break (30 minutes) in which I managed to make it to a supermarket for a beef & piccalilly sandwich (never again) and a soft drink. Then it was on to Dunedin for a change of bus which meant that I was pretty much stuck at the station for over an hour. This last section was a codeshare with Naked Buses, whose passengers were picked up from their terminal before we headed out to the airport. Bloke picked up from there sat next to me as seats were becoming rare, which was rather cramped with my rucksack at my feet.
Alternated between snoozing and listening to podcasts. Arriving in Invercargill, I identified a phone which wanted to charge me $7 a minute for a credit card call, so I set off towards the main road to try to phone Tina. Just as I made my way off, she turned up in her car, so all was well. After a glass of water we went shopping for the hiking stuff, and then some beer, and she cooked me a steak with kumara, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, and a green salad with avocado and some berries. Now I have to see how much of my stuff I can actually get into the pack.
