22DEC2019 – DAY 9: THE RECUPERATION

Not having a phone with an alarm set due to the events of the previous day, I was absolutely grateful for the wake-up call provided by a couple of the other tour members. While the wake-up call consisted of an obnoxious banging on the window to the room for 10 minutes straight, I was full glad the persistence was there as I had only 50 minutes to get up, have a shower, pack up my suitcase, grab a couple slices of bread from the breakfast area and head to the bus. Fortunately, I have become accustomed to functioning as normal on a consistent 5 hours of sleep every night. I can thank my job for providing that way of living. I ended up boarding the bus less than 10 minutes before we took off on our long drive to Christchurch. Along the way, we stopped in Hokitika to learn about pounamu (jade carvings). After a brief informative lecture on the history and significance of the jade in Maori culture, we set about the jade souvenir shop perusing the different pieces. Different carved designs have different meanings and it was noted to be a bad omen to buy a pounamu for one’s own self. Many of the tour members purchased one item or another as the jade carvings are said to have their own spirits and transfer a part of their symbolism upon the wearer. I had purchased a jade necklace to be given to a special someone someday (I don’t know who and I don’t know when, but I do believe one day I will find someone worthy of wearing the jade necklace I got this day!) After making my purchase, I spent some time walking around town and ended up running into an ice cream vendor as I approached the beach. With ice cream in hand, I made my way back to the bus and we finished our ride to Christchurch. Once there, I settled into my hotel room on the 4th floor, unloaded my clothes from my suitcase, and put them in the machine one floor below to be washed. I took a brief 30 minute nap, swapped my clothes over to the dryer and set out to explore the city. With no phone, no map, and no directions, I navigated the city streets and nearby park within a 15 to 20 block radius successfully before heading back to the hotel to remove my clothes from the dryer. As I was packing my clothes back into my suitcase, I began to feel a bit sad and suddenly remembered that this was the last day of the trip for most of our group. I rushed over to the bar where everyone was meeting up that night to join in the teary-eyed goodbyes. As the night winded down, our remaining numbers began to dwindle. With about a dozen of us left, we sat down and talked about our time on the trip, how the experiences changed us, and what our lives may hold upon returning home. To some degree, I felt unaffected by these discussions as I still had over half my trip ahead of me. Just after midnight (now 23DEC2019), those of us left had a brief celebration for one of our tour members whose birthday had just begun. We didn’t stay out too late this night as those of us continuing on would have to be up very early for the transition to the North Island. All things considered, this was a nice, relaxing day which could have been no better for those ending their time in New Zealand to move forward on their paths.