Written by wanderluster on 13 Jul, 2003
We used a variety of transportation traveling through New Zealand, but the only bus service that has earned a separate journal entry is Intercity. While the others (Atomic Shuttle, Kahurangi, Abel Tasman, TrackNet, South Island Connection, Wanaka Connexion) were safe and reliable, they were all VANS.…Read More
We used a variety of transportation traveling through New Zealand, but the only bus service that has earned a separate journal entry is Intercity.
While the others (Atomic Shuttle, Kahurangi, Abel Tasman, TrackNet, South Island Connection, Wanaka Connexion) were safe and reliable, they were all VANS.
Vans felt cramped, hot and stuffy. Cheaper, they were often crammed full of backpackers (sniff~ some apparently just finishing a multi-day tramp). Yes, we met lots of interesting people -– as you are pragmatically forced to converse with those you are squashed next too -– but sometimes the constant idle chatter was tiresome, repeating answers to the same questions on your upteenth bus ride.
And then there's nausea. Normally not one to get car sick, I was surprised the number of times I felt ill. Oh, the absolute worst was the ride from Blenheim to Kaikoura –- zounds, take the train, take the train!! I guess I'm not used to zipping around roller-coaster terrain in a van. Or sitting that close to someone with garlic breath and egocentric tangential verbosity!
Our first Intercity experience was traveling from Fox village to Wanaka. The bus picked us up in front of the grocery store at 8:45am. CUSHY, oversized seats had large picture windows, privacy from others and even a television above the aisle. Ahhh, we were free to read, nap, relax, whatever . . . without feeling guilty about not conversing.
All Intercity buses have scheduled tea stops and commentary about the passing landscape. (The stops add up to an hour on routes compared to van shuttles, which in contrast simply stop at a gas station if someone yells out that they gotta pee.) We traveled 40 minutes before our first tea stop at the Salmon Farm Café. Here we had 25 minutes to order breakfast choosing from salmon quiche, salmon and brie pies, salmon . . . you get the picture. The food was delicious and the setting beautiful, cantilevered over four salmon pools in the woods. My salmon/egg croissant (NZ$6.50) was the best breakfast I ate in NZ.
Midway through the trip, our driver gave us the option of traveling by Haast Riverboat Safari (NZ$75) for an hour before meeting up with the bus again downstream. Cool! Only one other lady joined me. Partially enclosed in a jetboat, we skimmed along the wide flat aquamarine river appreciating the spectacular scenery and fresh air. Waterfalls were everywhere. Harris, a 1,000 ft. waterfall beginning and ending in the middle of a 4,000 ft. green mountain was the largest among hundreds of ribbons cascading down velvety green mountains in Waterfall Alley. The jetboat careened around rocks and branches in a somewhat dizzying zigzag, finishing with the famous 360 degree SPIN. What fun! The trip ended at a rainforest, which we didn't explore as our bus was waiting for us.
What a great way to break up a seven hour bus ride. We arrived in Wanaka at 2:45pm happy and rested.