(Part One) 21st October 2006 - Arthur's Pass to The West Coast!

I was awakened by the connection of key to lock and the shoving open of the door. I popped my head up to see a chinese guy with a vacuum cleaner in his hand and wearing a surprised look on his face. He apologised and said he'd come back later.

I grabbed my watch on my bed. Horrors! It's 10.30am already! And i was supposed to check out by 10am! I felt as though I had just only fallen asleep, when in fact i'd been snoozing for at least 6 hours. I had quite a bit of packing to do, as well as to have breakfast. I stepped out in to the corridor and saw that everyone was out and about already. Backpackers had already locked and left their rooms for their adventurous day ahead. here was where i learned that some backpackers earned some income by helping to clean the place.

There were some local caucasians cleaning the bathroom too. It took me a while to digest this sight. Seldom do we see caucasians back here on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor, cleaning the toilet bowl, and looking stressed that there was a full day's work ahead.

Packed and ready to go, breakfast was a simple affair. The prior day's supermarket in-house baked grain bread (this bread lasted me 3/4 of the trip and is important as you'll see later) and sliced ham. Two slices. Inhaled quickly because i was late to check out!

I was out by 11am. and I apologised to Wendy. She was kind, understanding the jet lag and it was as though she hadn't realised that i hadn't checked out yet. =) Here was where i experienced the reality that i was on holiday. No rush...dont' stress...most kiwis are a nice bunch. =P

Oh i forgot to share in my last post that on the day before i had trouble starting the car! Whoever knew that for an automatic car, you have to step on the gas pedal and turn the key!!!! I mean, over here, for the auto cars i drive i never had that problem....so i'm making a note here as a lessoned learned. Trust me...I was bummed when i encountered the problem.

One thing about this car though...I think the battery was weak, coz i had to try afew times before it got started, especially when first moving off after the overnight chill.

There are so few people around this 'crowded' city that I had a hard time asking someone to help me take a street side photo simply because there was no passer by! Ha! But this shot was taken by an asian couple.

That's my blue car, behind me in the Issac Theatre Royal. Next to me is the parking meter. How it works is that you pay for the parking in blocks on 30/60/90 mins. The number is indicated under the 'P' alphabet. Then a printed receipt is produced and you just display it!

Seems that the locals dont' really pay for parking...perhaps it's a norm there...or life is such that you seldom get fined. HAHAHA...Note the ample space between cars! Sigh..if only parking in singapore was that good!

This dog was cute! one of the many I encountered on my travels. He belongs to this second hand antiquities shop just next to my parked car. He sleeps on this rattan chair (in front of the man with khaki berms) and greets people by shuffling around the sidewalk. If someone walked into the shop he'd follow them in. I gave it some pats and took some shots.

So I was off! Horrible thing was that the city map i had didn't show you completely the route to the highway i wanted to take to This scenic mountain drive -- Arthur's Pass! So i went by alot of faith, prayer...hahaha...and of course, a general sense of direction.

In that 30mins of getting lost i learned that:-

1) Don't stop at a car sale/ repair shop along that road. You can wait forever for help...and the sales guy can bochap you.

2) Not everyone working at the gas station knows the way around

3) The country is so big, dont' assume everyone has been out of the state/area they live and work in.

4) The lady at the pumping gas at the station was a life saver! hahaha...she was very funny and said..."You live here all your life and know how to drive around. But when asked to decribe the route and give directions and you can't!"

5) I was actually heading in the right direction before i stopped for confirmations. But i let fear get the better of me to not trust my navigation instincts. But i was being cautious too...=)

Well, I did finally get on that highway and it was a warm sunny day. I passed the flat pastures, heading towards the looming mountains ahead. This day wasn't turning out too bad after all even with the stress of the morning screw ups. I turned up my music and looked forward to the scnery ahead...=D