Monday, we went op shopping in town. At the first shop, I followed a lady around, hoping she would put down a really awesome dressing gown. She ended up buying it 😞. As we did all the shops we also went to the library to get some help about booking the Intercity Bus. They were not helpful as they were only a booking agent. Many calls later, we won’t know if we can get on with our bikes until 6.30am tomorrow. If the bus gets too full, they get upgraded to a double decker, which can’t handle bicycles.

We also needed to go to the police station to make an in person report about the cars that abused us. Just as we were leaving the cop shop, there was a collision. A guy pulling out of a carpark didn’t check properly and hit and older man with his car. The younger guy got angry, decided to drive his car as fast as possible, lost traction and hit him again. The poor old guy had damage to the front and back of the car now. It was a bit of a surreal moment and we ended up making new statements for this incident. The guy around our age has no insurance so hopefully the old boy has some good insurance for his car.

I tell you what, we are not enjoying Southland this time around. People here really hate cyclists. It is unfortunate because we loved our time renovating in Bluff. But this trip has soured our views. We continued op shopping and didn’t score much. We did get a cheap blanket to wrap the bike chains in. Went to the supermarket for dinner and went back to the holiday park. While Rowan cooked, I organised as much as I could, hoping we can get on a bus in the morning.

The alarm goes off and I call Intercity. It looks like we are good to go. We quickly pack up and head into town. We need to get there early enough to dismantle the bikes. Our bus driver is the most grumpy man. I think he hates his job with a passion. I would complain, but I don’t want him to get into trouble. Here we go 11 hours on a bus, we haven’t been on a bus this long since Spain and Morocco.

The yellow hue of a winter storm brewing, it stayed all day today! My sisters are yet again getting wet feet in Auckland. The bus trip isn’t too bad. Majority of the time I read my book.

The lovely Edward (neighbours son) picks us up from the bus station. We are staying at our very good friend’s and ex neighbours house Liz & Rick. I have really looked forward to seeing them and we have missed them a lot. It is really nice to spend some time here catching up.