Lazy Days and Snoring

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So the ferry was uneventful. I was feeling a little bit off (presumably from the waves... we'll just ignore the bubbly) so I took a motion sickness pill, which wonderfully made me sleep almost the entire way to Picton. When I got to Picton I had four hours to kill while I waited for the bus. I sat in a pub and had coffee and a snack and got on the bus at 5:15. I slept for the first hour, which I think I do on every bus I get on, and then I woke up because the road was incredibly twisty. Every time I wake up on a bus in New Zealand I think how beautiful the country is - it just amazes me every time. But the twisty road was going through these hills and all of a sudden we could see the ocean between the hills. It was windy as hell and the ocean was really rough. In fact I think the wind was trying to break into the bus. The bus driver talked to me most of the way, and despite not being able to hear most of it because of the wind, I responded with many "uhhuhs" which turned out to be to my benefit. We got into Kaikoura around 7:40. When I had booked the hostel I was staying in, they took down the bus information and told me they would come pick me up from the bus station. So I sat down to wait while the rest of the bus, which was going on to Christchurch took a potty/food break. After about 15 minutes the bus driver was leaving and he turned around and decided to take me to my hostel because clearly they weren't coming. It was incredibly nice of him - he gave me a hug when I got off the bus. Clearly not enough people talk to him. Turns out I was supposed to call the hostel when I got in... I swear they didn't tell me that. It was fine. Anyway, my room had three single beds (YAY no bunks!) and I dropped my stuff off and wandered across the street for a burger and fries. I finished a book while I was eating (Nadia's Song) and when I got back there was no way I was going out - we were very far from town - so I started another book (Anil's Ghost) before going to bed.

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My bed was absurdly comfortable. There were two guys in my room, one probably about my age, and one in his 50s maybe. The older one snored SO loudly the other two of us couldn't sleep. Luckily the younger guy yelled at him in German and he stopped (after I had taken another motion sickness pill - I can sleep through pretty much anything, so you know this was REALLY bad.) I got up the next morning, had breakfast and walked down the beach to the town. The beach was all gray pebbles and rocks, the water was a perfect turquoise color, and there were big snow-capped mountains in the distance. It was one of the most perfect places I've ever seen. I had an extra coffee before going to find out about the coastal walk to the seal colony I wanted to go on. Apparently you can only do the coastal walk at low tide, which wasn't until 8pm, so that was out. There was a clifftop walk, but there was no transportation to get there, and walking there would have added about 4km I think. Regardless, I wasn't interested in the clifftop walk, I wanted to see the seals! So then I looked into a boat tour of the seal colony, which wasn't running that day. Sad. My last thought was to buy some watercolors and try to paint the absurdly nice view from the beach... but watercolors are not very portable, so I bought pastels. I am (I discovered) horrible with pastels. It was fun, and I didn't actually draw anything. But in case I get the urge to try again I have the materials now. It was nice just sitting on the beach. That night I made rice and beans for dinner (yay!) and finished Anil's Ghost. I talked to some people in my hostel who were really funny. This one French couple had a DVD of when they went skydiving, which actually made me want to try it... I know... and it was hysterical to watch. They had a rental car and had dented the bumper, so they had to take it to Christchurch the next day and were worried about the paperwork, because their english wasn't great. I gave them my phone number because I was going to Christchurch too and told them if they needed any translation to call me. Anyway, I went to bed to a non-snoring room. Wonderful.

pretty coffees
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I got up Friday morning (Friday? I think...) packed up, had breakfast, and got a ride into town. I had a coffee while I was waiting for the bookstore to open, and then I bought two books before getting on the bus. Sadly it wasn't the same bus driver... Oh well.