Back in Christchurch, dammit

I'm wearing a tshirt and gnome shorts as I write this. Pretty much everything I own is in the wash right now.

Laura and I took a bus from Fox Glacier to Greymouth today. The busride was very pretty and far less scary than yesterday's. All I could think of yesterday was, "Bus... black ice... mountains... what country did Cliff Burton die in?"

The farmland was very pretty to watch, all sheep, cows, ferns and mountains. We saw many signs warning about 1080 and many signs protesting 1080. It turns out that 1080 is a US made poison, which New Zealand drops down on the forests to kill brushtailed possums. These possums were imported to NZ from Australia in an attempt to start a fur trade. Unfortunately, and of course, there were devastating to the local wildlife. In fact, it's actually illegal to swerve when you see a possum in the road--you must hit it. NZ is trying its best to keep the possums in check (they sell possum fur, nipple, naval and "willy" warmers...); they will never fully eradicate them.

At Greymouth, we found great disappointment. Laura had been told that it was a very cute town. It is not. I have been to Alaskan outposts that were more cheerful than this town. It was depressing. It had a cafe called, literally "Eating and Drinking." It was (again, literally) across the street from "Hunting and Fishing." We ended up eating at a cafe housed inside of a mostly abandoned building... we left quickly.

So the real reason why we were in this grim little town was to catch the TranzAlpine train, a scenic train that runs to Christchurch. More sheep, cows, mountains and ferns! It was very nice.

We're in Christchurch tonight for less than 12 hours. We're up at 4am tomorrow to catch a train to Sydney and then on to Hobart. I have a feeling it will be another day in which everyone will be very glad for a shower.