So, we had purchased tickets on the Coastal Pacific Railway that would take us from Picton to Christchurch. It was much pricier than it would have been to drive but we had heard great things about the trip as the rail ins mere steps from the water the whole trip so we decided to splurge a little for the scenic trip. After our time in Blenheim, we drove back to Picton to drop off our car rental and parked ourselves on a bench outside the library (free WiFi, ya know I'm saying?). We had been sitting there for about an hour, eating some food, surfing the interwebs, making some plans, etc., when I decided to check the email and wouldn't you know it, a train had derailed outside Picton and they were cancelling our train but were offering bus service to ChCh for the same price. No way was I paying the same amount for a bus ticket as for a train ticket so we proceeded to the rail station to inform them of our decision to find our own transport to ChCh. Of course, at this point, we had absolutely no idea what that "own transport" would be but I had high hopes that we could either catch a much cheaper bus or snag a one way/relocation rental.
We wandered over to the ferry landing where all the car rental offices were and chatted with one of the attendants who informed us that their one way rentals had a minimum hire of five days. Not only had we had planned to only walk and take public transit in ChCh but we had planned to only spend about two days there...meaning that we would be using a car for two days and paying for five days usage.
A wonderful family from Florida that was visiting their Au Pair daughter from Auckland, had plans to drive their rental car from Picton to Christchurch and overheard us talking with the rental car agent. The mother of the family, Marge, asked us what our plans were and if we needed a ride to ChCh. We said yes, of course, so we proceeded to make sure that the two of us (and all of our bags) could fit into the Subaru station wagon along with the four of them and all their bags. And we did, but I had to sit on Don's lap for the whole four hour drive. Not sure who I should thank more...the family who drove us or Don, who endured a numb and painful lap the entire four hour drive. The family who drove us what extremely kind...it was a long trip, but they were very considerate and fun to travel with! It was another example of the generosity and kindness we have experienced during this trip and this time it wasn't even from Kiwi's, it was from American's like ourselves! Thank you to Marge, Harold, Alison, and Owen for giving us a ride to Christchurch!
On our way, we stopped at a seal nursery/colony, which was amazing!
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