January 17.- Day 9

 Today is our longest journey on the bus. The trip from Hamner Springs to Twizel is over 400 kilometers. 

We had our delicious breakfast at Fire and Ice. I think this is the last I will see of delicious breakfasts since the rest of them are buffets at the hotels, more typical of these tour groups. After breakfast, we boarded the bus. The rain has finally stopped at Hamner Springs but it is still cloudy and we will leave this town without really seeing it. It has been buried in clouds continuously. 

The bus drive was uneventful. We drove with a couple of “comfort stops” but mostly stayed on the road. It is beautiful but not really remarkable in any way. You could have been in Wyoming or Montana and driving through rolling hills and farms. We eventually stopped at a Farm Cafe in the town of Geraldine for lunch. It was a special lunch and very New Zealand like with sharp cheeses and crackers and mince pies. We also had a delicious turnover of some type and I am honestly not even sure what was in it. I got my Americano with cream and I am happy. For dessert, we had chocolate eclairs filled with cream. Very good.

We stopped at Lake Tekapo next. We all got out and took a short walk along the shore of the lake and across the bridge. The lake is a beautiful green blue color and the sun is out! This is the first time we have seen the sun on the South Island. It was beautiful.  

Back on the road, we continued our drive until we arrived in Twizel. Getting off the bus was a welcome event. We checked in to our rooms and Matt and I headed out to walk the town. This is a very small town that was originally developed to house those who were working on the hydroelectric project in 1968. There is nothing historic here at all. But we walked the town. We are desperate to move. The mountains are beautiful but it is cloudy and cool here. The moment we saw the sun by Lake Tekapo was short lived.

Dinner was a buffet in the hotel and it was quite good. There were actually a variety of vegetables which I really enjoyed. I was careful with my eating although truthfully, I probably ate far more than I ever would at home. 

Matt and I tried to watch something on TV in our room and finally gave up. We went to bed early. And the bed feels so good.

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