Bus Trippin'

I know, I never thought I’d write a post about a bus trip either, but here we are.



Just finished two and a half days of busing, but the drivers took their time. They easily knew all the great lookout points to stop at along the way for breaks, as well as some interesting cafes and fruit markets they have relationships with. The drivers also gave us bits of history here and there. Some were sights I had been meaning to see (such as “Pancake Rocks,” above), others were ones I hadn’t heard of (Lake Howea, below).



What some of my pictures don’t show are the bus window frames or the 10-20 other people cycling through all of these viewpoints. There are plenty of multi-day trails leading up into the forests where you can pretty much have it all to yourself, but at these lookouts there’s a fairly steady flow of people. I heard a comment once that the short roadside paths through the woods like these aren’t really paths, they're highways.



But hey, with just under three weeks left in the country, this is what I have time for, and it looks good to me. So if you feel like checking out some photos, here it is: The West Coast of the South Island -- Highway Edition.

West Coast Bus Ride