THE THREE ALPHA TRAVEL

Takaka is a very beautiful hippie (mostly) village on the Golden Bay area of NZ. We stay at Barefoot Backpackers run by a Scottish lady and her partner; really good people. The next day we say goodbye to Stefania and drive with Nils back to Westport. Tinka is there waiting for us and we all decide to drive to Greymouth. I did not see much of the Golden Bay but I have the feeling it is very nice. Even nicer than the Gold Coast in Australia maybe… Especially Takaka strikes me as a village similar to Byron Bay but less touristic and spoiled. If I ever go back to New Zealand again I promise to start my trip from Takaka! In Westport we have our last dinner together. Steaks and wine!

Being here works perfect for me as I can now take the Tranzalpine train to Christchurch. The route is thoughtfully called one of “the greatest train rides of the world”. It takes me about five hours (with a bit of a delay) and passes from Arthur’s Pass, a magnificent section of the Southern Alps. Once in Christchurch I have three days to relax and basically hang out until I go back to Oz. Consumption habits kick in and I buy a second hand Lonely Planet book on “Southeast Asia On A Shoestring”. It makes me start thinking about the rest of my destinations. Yummy!!!

See you back in Australia then, ciao!

It is the first time I’ll be on a bus here in NZ. It is funny but it seems there is no “normal” service running. The driver is explaining the sights we pass to our left and right. He even stops the bus for us to take photos! I decide immediately that is the last time I board on a NZ bus as well. Arriving at Franz Josef I guessed I would have the same feeling as in Queenstown. Not many things to do unless you pay for an “activity”. So I book a guided walk on the glacier and then I will find out I could have done this myself – fair enough though I did not have the equipment I needed. It results not being so bad but still it could be better. From here on I decide to hitchhike.

After three (!!!) hours of waiting, Oracio from Chile picks me up and he drops me to Hokitika. I have no plans anyway so I stay there one night. It is a very small and quiet town and the good thing is I meet two Irish girls that can give me a lift towards up north. They are going to Westport but on the way to there we pass from Greymouth (transalpine train connection to Christchurch) and in Punakaiki we see the infamous Pancake Rocks and its blowhole – too crowded for my taste. Just before Westport we also visit the Seal Colony.

As the history has it, in Westport I meet an Italian girl called Stefania. We decide to hitchhike together from there to the north without any particular plan. Karamea is the most northern point on this road and it results easy to reach. As a town is totally small and unimportant but it captured me for a reason. Smaller than Westport is still a thousand times more interesting. We are staying at an ex-rugby-bunk-bed-shelter in front of a well… rugby field. There we team up with a German couple; Nils and Tinka, good guys and good cooks! We stay in Karamea for two nights and decide to do the Heaphy Track, another great walk!