Kiwis, Clowns and Craziness

Every day I get up here thinking, nothing could be as odd as yesterday. I mean, what are the chances I'll end up at something as weird as a burlesque show on a New Zealand island or a gangster party in the capital? But then, every day, we end up with so many weird and random stories, I'm never sure what to include in my blog entries.

Today, we caught the 8:30 a.m. Interislander ferry across from Wellington (the north island) to Picton (the south island). It's three hours and rumored to be the most beautiful ferry ride in the world. I've been on limited ferry rides, but I'd say it has to be up there. It was pretty incredible really because the ferry itself was about the size of a cruise ship and yet it somehow managed to maneuver itself between massive mountains and back into the port at Picton. (Photos will come soon when I'm on a computer created sometime post 1995)

As of yesterday, our actual booked places to stay on this trip ended. So, at this point Laura and I have become true nomads. Real fly by the seat of your pants kind of backpackers. It's awesome. So, we didn't think we were going to be able to get a seat on the bus from Picton to Christchurch today, which we really wanted. We didn't think that because a "travel agent" (also known as "one of the weirdest people I've ever met who it took me the first 10 minutes of the conversation to establish the gender of") told us that there were no seats left. However, upon arrival, only 2 seats were available on the bus so we hopped on!

The ride was beautiful but SERIOUSLY curvy. Knowing my tendency towards motion sickness - and taking no risks post the Fijian boat ride that nearly killed me - I'd taken some dramamine with breakfast this morning. So, I was fine on the bus. However, a teenage guy a few rows back was not so lucky. About 45 minutes into the trip, there was a bit of a commotion, an awful smell and then the bus was pulled over. Not only had he vomited all over the floor, but it was now rolling down the bus. Luckily, Laura had Vicks Vapor rub and we smeared it all over our noses to help with the smell. Our crazy driver kept mumbling about it, made some phone calls, cleaned up a little, and then hit the road again.

The bus driver was actually my favorite part of the trip. The entire way he would just randomly start talking into the mic about whatever towns we were passing through. However, what he was saying was rarely anything important and he never finished his sentences. He also really liked the word refreshing.

"This is a lovely little town with vineyards and a refreshing cafe where you can-"

"In this spot there's a refreshing garage, lots of people-"

Etc.

He also liked to talk on his cell phone while driving and would even pull over to do things like write numbers down. I'm pretty sure I heard him talking to someone named Chuckles once which made me really suspicious he was talking to a clown. And clearly I distrust people who make phone calls to clowns while they're supposed to be driving buses full of people.

Eventually we made it to Christchurch, which is really a very pretty city. When we went to check on our now favorite backpackers spot, Base Backpackers, it was full except for a mixed dorm for 10. We're tired of sleeping in rooms with boys, so we went searching for another spot. My Let's Go book recommended an all women's hostel on the outskirts of town, so we walked here.

It is interesting.

There is some kind of witch theme going on with pictures of witches and witch ornaments everywhere. So that's weird. And there's also a guinea pig pen in the back yard with two guinea pigs in it. That's also weird. At first I thought it was fun, but then the guinea pigs ran away when I tried to pet them. There's also a cat who is hanging out near the guinea pigs watching them. I don't understand that dynamic really. After we'd been here about 10 minutes Laura turned around and whispered "I think this is the kind of place there are lesbians."

I think she's probably right.

Oh well, we're just here for a night and then we're catching the bus tomorrow to Queenstown. And guess what? As we pulled into town today our crazy bus driver announced that if anyone was catching the early bus to Queenstown, he'd be driving it! Of course. I'm just hoping there are no more clown calls.