This is not an easy trip!
I am staying in Christchurch Airport for a night. I have to give the proof of leaving the airport before 8am so that I can sleep at the airport lounge; hence I booked a short trip from Christchurch to Ashburton at 6.40am using Intercity Flexipass beforehand. This bus tour can be cancelled up to two hours prior to departure so it will not cost me any money.
When I reached Christchurch airport, I realized I booked the bus trip on a wrong date! I booked it on the date before today. I cannot get back any refund because it is a past trip. The worst part is that I have spent a night trying to book another bus trip today on the Intercity website (required as a proof to stay in the airport lounge), however the website is unavailable. After a few hours trying, I gave up and I begged the staff for allowing me stay in the lounge by showing the wrong bus ticket that I booked, luckily they accepted my reason so that I can at least slept for two hours in the lounge.
I woke up in the early morning. My friend arrived at Christchurch Airport at about 7am. We have to wait for 2.5 hours to take the bus from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo. I told my friend that we should wait in the bus stop outside of the international terminal, as this is the place where I used to wait for the Intercity bus, but I did not realise that NakedBus will be stopped at different bus stop.
We missed the bus! The NakedBus stopped at the other bus stop which is about 7 minutes walking distance from here. There is only one bus per day from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo, so I will have to spend extra money for the accommodation in Christchurch. This is an expensive mistake to pay for! But the most painful part is that I felt very sorry for my friend because my friend is only here for 11 days and I have wasted 1 day! I am very guilty.
I thought my bad luck has ended today, but I was wrong. At night I was stuck in the bathroom in my accommodation. My friend had to call the staff to ‘rescue’ me, and it was quite embarrassing. >.< Anyway it is very lucky that my friend was there, I find it difficult to breathe in the bathroom full with steam, I will faint if I stay for 10 more minutes!
I don’t know why I am so blur this time. This is the first time I have made these kinds of mistakes during my trip! Maybe I am too tired lately. Well, perhaps it is not necessarily a bad thing, as we get to explore Christchurch.
The Botanic Garden in Christchurch is nice as there are a lot of flowers in the mid summer. However, many of the places in Christchurch are still in construction and many of the shops are closed. My friend said it is like a ‘ghost town’. >.< It is difficult to imagine it is once a prosperous city. So… please visit a place as early as possible, and do everything you want now, because things move fast. 🙂
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