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Saturday 11th May 2013
I slept ok in the little room, although I had some strange dreams about packing for my holiday. I was woken up at 3am from a text from my mother saying Stevie has had kittens. My alarm went off at 7am but I couldn't force myself out. I dozed until 7.30am, by which time most of my room was up. I got dressed, braved the cold for a wash and then went back and packed my bag. I then went for breakfast, made a tea and had my banana and breakfast bar. It was cold outside when I sat for my breakfast and only a few people showed up to eat. Once finished I loaded up my bags outside the bus and collected my key deposit and waited for others by the bus. We had a new bus although it was still a small bus and trailer. We waited for the big suitcases before pilling the rest of the bags in. I had places my day bag on the front single seat, as hopefully it would help travel sickness and give me slightly more leg room. We had to wait a while whilst the last few people to come on the bus. We eventually hit the road. We wound the roads along the coast. We soon started coming inland. The scenery again was magical as we drove around. I was awake for most of the morning but I did drift off every now and then. Around 11am, we stopped off for a break, and I grabbed a cup of tea. After a 15min stop, we jumped back into the bus. We continued to drive inland, crossing from the east to west coast. It was a beautiful day, sunny but a little chilly. I think this would be the last day I will wear flip flops all day. As we drove we picked up the Buller River, as it made its way to the sea. We stopped off a couple of time to take some photos of the river. The river carved its way through the mountains and made a stunning view. We continued to drive to Westport, where we picked another passenger and had a supermarket stop. We had been warned that tonight's accommodation didn't really have a kitchen, just a microwave. I had some microwave rice, so I got some chicken and a mini veggie pizza. I also grabbed some crumpets for breakfast and some rolls for lunch (the crackers were not filling me up and I kept snacking), I also brought some almonds.
Back on the bus I managed to eat all the nuts, oops. We drove off to Windfoul Cape, only a 30min drive. Here we walked up a short costal track where we could look down at a seal colony. The seals were difficult to spot at first, as they blended in with the rocks, but once you spotted one you could see others. They looked so peaceful and content sleeping in the sun on the rocks. We saw some young pups coming out of the sea onto the rocks and it was mesmerising to watch.
We jumped back onto the bus and off on the road we went. I listened to my music for most of the day. I still wasn't feeling great, but I wasn't sure if I felt rough or my mood was just down. Plus now, for some reason my ankle was really painful. Driving, I just listening to my music and watching the stunning views pass out the window.
Around 4pm, we stopped off at Pancakes rocks, which were limestone stocks off the cliffs which had been eroded away and they look like stacks of pancakes. They were impressive to see, the strong cliffs and rocks, so vulnerable to the sea and the elements. Once I finished the 2min walking route, I got an ice cream and sat back on the bus. The ice cream was refreshing and it was nice to have a sugar rush. We hit the road again and we just had an hour before we arrived in Blackbull. Today had been a long day of driving. The drive was pretty as we headed back towards to the cost whilst the sun was lowering. We got into Blackbull around 5.30pm. The town was an old gold and coal mining town, and where Labour Party was form and the centre for conumisum. They had serious strikes here during the 1990s and 1930s. The town fell into depression when the last state mine closed down. They now have one commercial mine in operation. When we arrived we were taken off on a tour of Blackbull my a local lady. We were taken to the air filters of an old mine and we could see the old brick towers. We then went to the old Mine managers house where we went inside (it is now a community centre). It was now dark and cold. We sat inside and heard about the history of the town. We could also look around the house. It was quite a creepy house, full of old artefacts but just scattered around the house along new things.
Once the tour was finished we headed back to the hotel, where we checked in. It was a quirky old hotel that you expected to have lots of old stories and ghosts. I was happy to stay here, but for $30 I didn't thing it was worth that much. I grabbed the single bed in our room, there was also a bunk bed and a double bed. Once in the room and I had collected I headed to try and made dinner. The kitchen was a small kitchenette and there was a few in the queue for the microwave. I jumped in the queue and it wasn't too long Berle my rice and pizza were heated. Jenny the new English girl gave me some of her bean mix, it was a random but nice meal considering the kitchen. I ate it downstairs in the TV lounge, as the bar had an actual restaurant in serving dinner. It was a cold room with an electric heater not doing much in providing heat. I spent the rest of my evening in here. People came and went. I grabbed some biscuits and made some tea before some of us watched a film 'The Castle' and Aussie film. It was very 80s and tacky film, but it was so bad it was funny. After the film finished I got ready for bed. My bed had a massive dip in the middle and I was stuck in it. I slept in my sleeping bag liner as I was feeling cold. Once in bed I read for a while before drifting to sleep.
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