I Made It

My flight landed at about 1am, I figured it was a good time to start hitchiking. I made it to the outskirts of Christchurch at about 2:30am, I needed a ride. It’s 6 degrees, I’m wearing almost every piece of clothing I own and I’m still freezing cold. I really needed a ride. I watched the sun rise about seven thirty.

I really, really, really needed a ride. I got a ride at 8:30am, I only waited 6 hours, not too bad.

I forget the guy’s name who picked me up, but we had a great chat about all sorts of things. He took me a slightly different route towards Nelson. Instead of going straight up the coast we turned left and headed cross country over Lewis Pass.

Then the snow started. I wasn’t looking forward to getting out of the nice warm car and back into the cold, cold, cold New Zealand weather…   By the time we got to Springs Junction, where we parted company, the weather had cleared up a bit.

Initially I was pleased, only another 214Kms to go…

The the rain started again, lightly at first… After an hour and a half standing in the pouring rain, I’d had enough. Drivers kept waving at me, by the end I was screaming “Do you see the rain? This is not fun. Give me a lift…” but it was no use. I retreated to the cafe on the corner and ran into Rhianna who was going to Nelson. Score, I had my final lift.

A few hours later I was ready to go to bed. My first hitch hike, 425Kms in a total of about 16 hours. Where are we going tomorrow?

Arriving in Nelson

I am excited. Yesterday I took the ferry from Wellington to Picton. I was fortunate enough to get a lift to the ferry’s office from someone I asked about its location: I was exactly the last one to get a ticket for the 2 PM ferry. On the ferry I did some coding and walked around with a sign saying “Nelson”. Not very effective. Fortunately I started talking with some people on their way to Nelson. The car was pretty full already, but I got a ride. I was dropped in the
city center and asked around. Not too many people know where The Cliffs are. Basically you climb up to Washington Road,
and then there are a bunch of streets. Print out some Google Map stuff, or get a map at the Taxi shop.

A bit drenched I arrived at the location. Even at night in the rain it looks pretty. Hungry Steve was there to let me in.
Leo had just arrived that afternoon. I didn’t recognize him at first. Later we had great conversations about CouchSurfing
and Life. Today we went out to buy some essential stuff such as a water kettle, duct tape and a telephone, which unfortunately didn’t make any other sounds than “tuut tuut tuut” yet. Tomorrow we’ll try to get the phone line and internet to work. (Internet is still not working, but Glenn has broadband and doesn’t live too far away.)

 

There’s plenty of space in the house and in spite of the rain the view is definitely amazing. But it’s not clear how many people we can actually house here. If not, we also bought a tent for 10 NZD$ and in Summer sleeping on the beach seems an excellent alternative.

Kasper

Internet and hitchhiking in New Zealand

Internet connections are not very widespread or advanced. I haven’t found a cafe with a free wireless internet connection in either Auckland or Wellington. Broadband  is pretty expensive, so many people just have dial-up access at home.

Fortunately, hitchhiking is good. My hosts dropped me at a gas station on route 1 down to Wellington. It was raining all day yesterday, but I didn’t have to wait too long at the gas stations. Kiwis are friendly. My first ride was with Nick and his parents. Really interesting people. I will probably go visit them this summer. And I might even have some job opportunity, working with gifted and talented children!

Check the Hitchhiking Wiki for useful tips, especially if it’s your first time hitchhiking. Many people hitchhike for the first time, in New Zealand. In fact, in the plane from LA I met Scott, whom I introduced to CouchSurfing and hitchhiking. And, hitching from the airport to Auckland’s city center is really easy.