Ali Clarke 
My holiday begins! Waiting at my local bus stop (Otago Peninsula) for the bus into town. This is a #NoFly #SlowTravel trip with many stages. Adding a hashtag so you can mute if not interested in my wanderings 😆
Thanks for the good wishes everyone! I’m now on my next bus - the Intercity to Ōtautahi.
Good thing - it’s very cheap.
Sad thing - it’s not a train, there aren’t any on this route 😢
Got all the essentials with me - book, phone, noise-cancelling headphones, flask of tea, snacks … it’s a long journey. Lucky to have a window seat!
We have a 40 minute break in Oamaru, which is full of grand old buildings like this. I went for a quick walk, found the Victorian part of town closed for filming. Obviously some sort of period drama!
We’ve just crossed the Waitaki River (can’t fit it into one snapshot) - I have left Otago! 😧
I’m now in Ōtautahi 🎉 Once we got to the Canterbury plains I kept nodding off - oops! I found the bus comfortable and the drive was very smooth. We stopped for 15 minutes each in Timaru and Ashburton for the driver’s break, not time for more than a quick stretch of the legs.
I’m heading north tomorrow, but will stay here a couple of days on the way home. Just waiting for my room service dinner, and then to sleep for an early start in the morning 😴
Trudie Walters 
@simplicitarian welcome Ali, and thank you for bringing us sunshine!! Enjoy the rest of your trip, I am loving these updates!
@drwalters Thanks Trudie! I’ll be back soon. 3 metre swells in Cook Strait today 🫤
@simplicitarian eyes on the horizon, and its only 1.25 hrs in Cook Strait…
Paul H