Another Country, Another Cold

Here is another map I ripped off the Lonely Planet website

Of course, it is colder here in New Zealand than Australia so I have the start of a new cold to look forward. My nose has already got a bit dribbly and my throat is threatening some all out strike action shortly. Ah bother!

I left Christchurch yesterday morning and caught the Tranzalpine railway through the mountains to Greymouth on the West Coast (having started on the East Coast). The views from the train were amazing, rivers, snow-capped mountains, sheep, the lot. Until we got halfway there and it started to rain and the clouds came in.

I could see where the 'grey' in Greymouth came from as it was raining and crappy yesterday. The hostel was interesting though. It is called 'Noah's Ark' and each room is decorated according to an animal theme. I was placed in the Sheep Room and sure enough there was a big fluffy sheep on the bed when I got there. Since it was a bit damp outside, I just went out and bought some food before heading back to the hostel for the evening.

The thing that NZ seems to have over Oz so far is the belief that there should be some kind of heating available since it is winter and all. But they don't have anythig as sophisticated as central heating in the hostel- it is all down to log fires. Which is pretty nice. And what could be more like home than walking into the lounge to discover a cat laid out on the hearth rug warming his belly? He was lying on his back with his front legs stretched out ahead of him and his back legs all curled up in the air. He lay there for a few hours and then woke up suddenly. Twisting himself back into a cat-like shape he looked around groggily before going back to sleep. T'is a cat's life.

Got up early this morning to find a sunny day awaiting me. The Magic Bus picked me up at 8 and off we went. We stopped at a place called Hokitika to buy some food then onto Ross to watch a gold panning demonstration before arriving in Franz Joseph, our destination for the night. Most people are going walking on the glacier this afternoon or tomorrow but I am going kayaking on a beautiful looking lake in a couple of hours.

Wish me luck!