Monday April 19th, 2010
Day 8: Christchurch -> Somewhere Near Arthur's Pass
Dark and Winding Road
Today was spent buying supplies in Christchurch to get ready for our trip to the Franz Josef/Fox Glaciers and driving to the West Coast.
Went to a second hand store and bought a full length winter coat (15NZD), a beret (3NZD), and a beanie (2NZD). Went to Warehouse and got some blank cds (pack of 5 for 3.95NZD) to burn some on the road music.
We started making our way through the Southern Alps to the West Coast. Even in the evening darkness, I could tell that these mountains were majestic, with the clouds hanging close to their peaks. The roads were really winding, and it was getting darker and darker.
We caught a radio frequency while driving in close to Arthur’s Pass. The volume of the radio show being broadcast would bounce up and down, and there was this background sound in the lower level static of a car honking. I would check my rear view mirror constantly when I heard that sound, but there was no vehicle to be seen. Eeerie. The radio show was an interview between the radio host and a Washington Post journalist. The journalist had recently published an article on unconscious bias. According to the journalist and his time spent with researchers on the subject, people are more biased than they think. When making judgments, although people believe they are acting rationally, there is a level of bias that they aren’t aware of that is influencing their decision.
I thought that this was very interesting and that it puts to question how “correct” our opinions are.
After taking a bathroom break in Arthurs Pass, I decided we should try to drive as close as we could to the West Coast before calling it a night. However, as we drove in the darkness, we could feel the night air chill creep in and the road condition was getting worse. Then it started to rain.
“Fuck this. As soon as we see a sign for a backpackers, we’re going there.” I said to Apo.
Lo and behold, 500 meters down the road there was a backpacker’s on the left literally in the middle of nowhere.
There was a little lodge with a gravel driveway that led up to accommodations. We entered the driveway and the owner, seeing our lights, came out of the little lodge to greet us.
“You guys staying the night?”
“How much?” I asked from the car.
“28 a night.”
“Ok.”
We drove up to the bigger lodge (which isn’t “big”, more “quaint” I would say) and were surprised to see that two other backpackers, two girls from Israel, were staying there.
“Yeah, the rain, it’s crazy,” one of the girls said to us.
Staying at this little backpackers in the middle of the mountains with the rain outside was nice. We spent the night playing Yanniv and Asef (not sure about the spelling) an Israeli card game that one of the girls taught us.
Off to bed now, can’t wait to see what it looks like outside in the morning, should be beautiful.
DT: 103
RDA: 109.5
RT: 876.05
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