Often, I outline the entries as soon as they happened and let them sit until I'm motivated enough to flesh them out. As I look over the outline for this entry, I really am tempted to just post the outline. It won't make sense unless you know what's going on, but it will make you laugh. My favorite line in the outline is "Bacon and Eggs and Elvis." It wasn't really a signifcant part of the trip, but I think the combination warranted further explotation. It is now an aspect of the title--as I hope you noticed before reading this.
We left Cathedral Square promptly on a bus destined for Akoroa--south of France. We went up into the hills surrounding Christchurch, and down them, and up them again. It provided for spectacular views of the Canterbury plains (I think, I may not be using that term correctly) as well as Wisconsin-like Dairy/Beef farms and less Wisconsin-like sheep farms.
After an hour and half, and some of my co-travelers getting a bit motion sick, we arrived at the sea-side village of Akoroa, population ~300, though we were told in the peak of the summer season, there are as many as 6,000 folk hanging out there. It is highly reminiscent of Bayfield, only it has an ocean...and dolphins...and seals...similar cormorants, though, among other things.
We stayed at The Dolphin Backpackers (hostel) which was clean, well run, and smaller than the hostels that we had been staying in. As I am usually on the top bunk, I found that the beds lacked a little bit of support and spent the night sleeping within inches of Andria's face. This has not been an uncommon occurrence. We had dinner at a French-owned Italian restaurant that was set up in a big old house. We were served in the backyard. We then enjoyed the rest of the gorgeous, warm, just slightly breezey night at a seaside bar. Good times were had by all.
Walking back to the hostel, and elderly Brittish man came out of nowhere and asked if we could help. Slightly disturbed, we opted not to punch the potential-attacker and run, but instead to stick around. He and his wife arrived at their hotel much later than expected and were trying to call the hotel. Unfortunately, they did not have an internationl SIM card, and could not. I offered my phone, they called, and the day was saved. We ran into the couple again the next day, and they were very kind.
We had an early breakfast of bacon and eggs at the Boloungerie-Patisserie just down the road from our hostel while enjoying the fine tunes of The King. The coffee wasn't even too awful, which is always pleasant. A big black lab decided to join us, and after a bit of asking around, Heidi determined that it was a stray and proceded to call the owner, who was vacationing in Akoroa. He showed up a bit later, saying that the dog had been missing overnight.
Our plans for the day were made, and we went our separate ways.
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