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Thursday 15th May
I had managed to get some sleep before my alarm went off at 5am. I couldn't believe it was going off. I reluctantly got up, grabbed my phone, headphones, charge and tea. I put on a jumper and grabbed my key before leaving the room. My idea was to go to the TV room or kitchen to speak, but both were locked. I found a socket (my phone was very low on battery) on the 1st floor, so sat down and called the parents. It was nice to see and speak to the parents. We spoke about the bungy, New Zealand and bit of other news. I was still feeling tired as we spoke. We talked for just under an hour. After I finished chatting I went back to my room and went back to bed for a while. Lenka was up just after I got in and shortly left the room after 6am. I managed to doze until 7.30am but still then I struggled to get up, the previous day had obviously taken its toll. I got up and shower and packed my bag. The 2 girls were stirring. I then went for breakfast and made my lunch. I just had a banana for breakfast as I wasn't really hungry and I was unable to make tea as there was no kettle or urn (the kettle was in the room but without mugs). I went back to the room, checked by stuff, said bye to Jen and took my bags downstairs. I handed my key in and went outside to wait for the bus, as there was already a group of people congregating. I went to the convince shop next to he hostel and got some postcards and mints. It was just after 8.30am and the bus pulled in around 9am. The bus was busy, it was a large bus and it looked pretty much full. Most were in mood joyful moods. We picked up a few more people from Nomads hostel and we got on our way. The bus was full and I was sat next to a Canadian called Mark. Trish, Erin, Juel, Zander and William from my first bus were on this one. Although it was the girls who mainly spoke to me. Mark and I chatted for a bit as we drove out of Queenstown. I was sad I couldn't spend longer there, as it looked like it was a quaint and quirky town based on a beautiful lake, but I would just have to come back to it one day. We drove for about an hour before we stopped off from a toilet stop and coffee. I had drifted off on this first leg of be trip. I jumped off the bus and grabbed myself an earl grey tea, I had been wanting this cuppa since I had done the bungy jump, it had been a long time coming! It tasted great and I had this along with my fruit bar, as a breakfast number 2 (although I had my mini rice cracked when I first got on the bus).
After a 15min stop, we were back on the road again. The driver was Rob, and Claire had rated him as a great driver. He was older than Pinky and had a good but different since of humour. He put a film on after be first stop 'Castle in the Sky', after unhappiness about his first choice. I was a strange film about surfers, but was literally clips of a guy surfing all around the world, no taking or story. I sat in a daze and watched the film.
I slept a little after the film as we continued to drive. After the first stop the fog had settled in and we were unable to see the landed ape fly past the window. By the time we stopped for lunch (???), the fog had cleared. We stopped for fuel just before lunch before we continued the drive to our lunch stop. We pulled in and were given 30mins. I didn't need anything from the supermarket and didn't want to go in. I was very hungry and was tempted into the bakery. I walked over talking to Trish, it we lovely to catch up. There wasn't anything that grabbed my attention, but Trish ordered a pie so I too ordered a steak and cheese one and we sat in the bakery and ate. Once finished we headed back to the bus. I read by book as we waited for everyone to jump back on board. At 12.45pm, we hit the road agin. As we drove Mount Cook loomed into view, surrounded by other mountains, some snow capped and some not. I sat and watched the river and mountains fly past. It was so stunning, I could have taken a photo every 5mins, but the photos would not have given the landscape justice.
On the way to Mount Cook, Rob provided information and commentary of the route between music. We stopped off at a look out only 20mins from our destination for a photo of the mountains and lakes. I took some photos, trying to do justice. Once back on the bus, I read and continued to read as we pulled away. My book was coming to a close and I was hooked on the ending. I didn't make me feel sick so I continued to read until we arrived a Mount Cook. There wasn't really a settlement here, just some hotels and apartments. We pulled into out hostel, which used to be a hotel, the the rooms were small and en-suite. We got off the bus and went to check in. It was a little wait and the receptionist tried single handily tried to book us all in. As I was friendless, I was just by chance in a room with Mark. There were a few 3 or 4 rooms, but ours was a twin. I grabbed my main bag which Rob had brought in and headed to my room. Mark had put his bag on the double bed, and I said I was happy with be single. The room was nice, a lot more like a hotel. It was the most expensive place we had stayed at $31 a night. I logged into the wireless as I still had time from the Base hostel, I checked my emails, activated my bungy photo website (so the parents could see them) and sent a few messages. I was still sticking to only sending messages to those who had sent me one to see what would happen.
Once in my room I got ready for a walk. Rob had said about a 3-3 and a half hour walk to the lake the bottom on the Tazman Glacier. The bus was going to take us to the start of the track, a 5min drive from the hostel.
The walk was really nice. I was good to stretch the legs and move, especially after the burger the night before. I ended up walking mainly by myself, other over taking me and others falling behind. My feet were slightly painful where the blisters still lingered. It was a nice walk around 75mins to the lake. The mountains looked so strong and powerful towering down on us. Some had dashing of snow on, but most had ice and glaciers on the too. I know the ice in glaciers is called blue ice but I never appreciated ho blue the ice actually was. After walking and going over 3 suspensions bridges we had arrived and I took some photos of the stunning views at the lakes edge. We could see the end of the glacier and the blue ice. There was a few mini icebergs in the lake. It was so amazing. Part of my was sad I didn't get to Franz Joseph or Fox and that I couldn't get closer. But it was also an incredible view that was well worth it. There was a fair about of wind that starts to pick up. On the walk there it was a head and side win that made the walk a little slower. The terrain was a mixture of rocks, paths and wooden paths.
On the way back, the wind was behind us which made it easier at times. I was still by myself, but I was content with this. I knew the bus would quieten down Christchurch and I only had a few days before I stopped off at Wellington and just a week before my flight, so not being with people constantly didn't worry me like it did previously. Plus it was nice to have some me time. I continued to walk and take photos, I was playing around with some settings. The walk back seemed quicker and nearing the end Helda caught up with me and we chatted as we walked back. Night was drawing in and the sky altered. The sky was getting darker but it was still vividly blue and a dark blue, it was a beautiful sight. On the way back we took a few wrong turns, the main one was from following the person in front, but it added no more than 30mins into our trip. We arrived back at the hotel just before 6pm. I was now starving. I had a roll just before the walk and an apple on the walk. I got back to my room and unpacked my day bag. I couldn't find my phone and I searched my whole bag. I assumed it was in the bus as I had it just before we got off for our walk. But I was worried, this combined with my hunger meant I hit the chocolate and had 1 1/2 lines. I still wasn't a massive fan of it. Mark arrived back in the room. I eventually found my phone in a pocket. I semi sorted out my things that were thrown on the bed, before going down to cook dinner. It was noodles, mushroom, onion, chicken and salad. There was only a few in kitchen so cooking was easy. As I finished cooking it got a lot busier, I had timed it well. I sat and ate with my tea and book. I started talking to someone, but as she left and groups sat down I was content to carry on reading. Once finished I had some apricots and yogurt with a second cuppa (they were silly small cups) and continued to read. People came and went from besides me but I was nearing the end. Eventually, just before 8pm I had finished it and even found it had a sequel. Once finished I headed back to my room which was vacant. I tried working the TV but I could only get a snowy picture. I laid on my bed and started reading my next book, 'The Complete Works of Sherlock Holme', it is over 8,000 of stories and short stories...this would last me a long time. After a while I gave up reading and started on my diary. I had been lazy recently and was behind, so I needed to get back into it. As I wrote and watched a snowy TV, I munched my way through a lot of chocolate (3 strips), I was regretting buying it. I thought about sharing it tomorrow night. After a while I finished my dairy for the day I continued to watch TV before heading to bed. I was shattered from the day and I was tempted to get up early and do a walk for sunrise (I overheard some others talking about it and they were advised to leave at 6.30am. We were leaving at 10am and Rob had said the walk was 1 and a half hours (although I wasn't sure if that was return or one way), but 6.30am would give enough time to do the walk and come back and shower before we depart at 10am. Not long after 10pm, I snuggled down to bed and soon dozed off.
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