Hitchin in the south island #2

Day 1
2 rides - 1st waited 15 mins, middle aged local lady took us from Hope (Nelson) to Tapawera. 2nd ride was a german backpacker been working in Mot. Took us all the way to Hokitika with stops at waterhole, lookout and punkaiki (pancake rocks).
Camped on the beach.

Day 2
1 ride - Waited 1 hour, got picked up by a local lad from Greymouth heading to Wanaka for new years. Got us very quickly down the line to Wanaka! 2 days, 730kms! Found a quiet spot in a public walkway (in a well to do area of town) but the neighbour said there was no camping allowed... so they let us stay in their basement! :) warm beds, hot showers and toast. oh yeah.

Day 3
2 rides - 1st ride local hippie picks us up in 5 mins and drops us at the main interesection down the road. 2nd ride, couple of loose unit young rural blokes pick us up, drop us 10mins down the road, in Luggate... middle of nowhere.
We wait 4 hours, nothin (apart from some young boy racers without seat belts in a dodgy van (they got rejected by us)). It rains, we get wet. We give up and go to the bar. Drink. Watch cricket. Andre scouts out a site for the night. Farmer lends us his hay barn. New years eve. Haha. A dry and breezy night. My bag smells like hay...

Day 4
Thank farmer, he offers cooked breakfast... we have our arm twisted, very easily. Chat to the locals crowded into a flash homestead. Bacon, eggs, coffee. We chat, then thanks all round and off we go. 40 mins later one of the lads from the homestead picks us up. Nice ute. 20min drive to Cromwell.
5 mins later 2 girls pick us up. Its the bride for the wedding on Saturday that Andre is going to! (I met them in March after I had stayed with her sisters boyfriend in Dunedin! Small world) And her sister in the car has just been tramping with my friends from Welly/Palmy. We have picnic lunch with the couples friends on the shore of lake Hawea. Good times.
They drop us at a gas station. 4 mins later a young norwegian girl picks us up and takes us down the road to qtown.
And here we are.
A few photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com

After Qtown we hitch with Canadian (who thought qtown was cold...) and two Brazilians to a major intersection. We wait an hour to get a ride with a cousie bro in a big Ford with a shoe lace holding down his car boot (trunk).
We went back to lake hayes where we had picniced earlier. The sign said no camping... we camped.

Day 5
20 min walk to highway. wait about 15 for a kiwi based in Cairns to pick us up. He took us all the way through Central O down to an intersection at Raes Junction. Sweet drive, ate fresh cherries in Roxsborough, saw lots of dust clouds in Alex, saw the big dam in Clutha.
At Raes junction a trucker offered one of us a ride... dang it. Wouldve liked a ride in a truck. That would've been worth a lot of hitching points! As it worked out we ended up following the truck all the way to Gore with a local builder. He gave us the low down on dairy conversions, milking logistics, southlands economy and how south islanders are friendlier than north islanders (I attempted some mind broadening dialogue to no avail)...
Day 5 weather was damp, then super hot, then soaking in Gore. 4 seasons in one day...
We got some supplies from the super market. While i stayed with the bags Andre shopped, many people walked passed me in the foyer, and said hello, or acknowledged that I was there... curious. maybe southlanders are friendlier!
Eventually made it to Andre's friends house (Luke and Terri) and were welcomed by a very lonely cat! With lots of molting fur. It wouldn't leave us alone!
We stayed there, we chilled, we enjoyed a kitchen, and a bed, and a shower.