Southern October Tour: A Guest Arrives

(Excuse the long delay but a lot has happened in the last week convincing me to wait until the end before committing it to cyberspace. Oh, and I’m aware that there’s no such thing as south October but I feel such a title will give the next several posts more zing.)

With one week of vacation left, my older brother by 2 years, Roman, decided to keep me company by paying a visit. It was easy for him to make the trip because he’s currently based in Canberra, Australia, studying law. Despite his plane being late, he managed to make it to my campus residence without any trouble. The only downer was that he arrived near midnight. The last time I saw my brother in person was in February and I must say that physically, he’s changed a lot. He looks more European than Canadian with long brown curly hair and plenty of dark facial hair. I really think he needs to cut his long hair but he’s fond of his new independent hairstyle. Maybe I should start a petition? With his new look, I can definitely see him residing in Australia for the rest of his life.

I gave Roman a brief tour of my campus residence before introducing him to my roommates. Most of them were, um, ‘overjoyed’ to meet my brother because earlier they had been celebrating the arrival of the weekend. Roman slept in my sleeping bag on a borrowed mattress and what surprised me is that he snores. Not as intensive as my dad but he’s getting there. I’m so grateful I have earplugs. They would be essential during our backpacking trip.

Before our South Island excursion, Roman & I explored Christchurch on foot. He’s quite the walker, snapping pictures along the way. I wasn’t exploring, more like enjoying what I’ve already seen. We met up in Town in the evening and paid a visit to a bar & grill named the Holy Grail. The place is located in what use to be a movie theater with the main screen being used to showcase rugby matches. Good food & booze too . . . all kindly paid for by my parents’ credit card.

Since Roman was staying for a week, it would be unwise to confine him to Christchurch. He wanted to pay a visit to Dunedin & Invercargill, two southern towns on the South Island. Why not?

Travelling would have to be done by bus; there’s not a big enough passenger market for trains. Only freight trains travel south of Christchurch. Canada has Greyhound & New Zealand has Intercity. The buses are either one level or double-decker. Even though there’re no washrooms on the buses, they stop frequently, thereby letting passengers stretch their legs & use the facilities. I don’t think there are any express buses - every bus in the system does a milk run.

For the two of us, the total cost for our bus tickets was $300NZD. It may sound a lot but we did several stops because my brother was against sitting on a bus for more than 8 hours. With out backpacks filled with spare clothing, cameras, books, maps, and cash, Roman & I boarded an Intercity bus on a Sunday afternoon and journeyed to Dunedin.

Our backpacking excursion began.

To Be Continued . . .