Train ride to a new adventure?

With my eyes still half closed I walked over to the bus station with my heavy bags at 6.30 in the morning in Nelson. I was going to Greymouth with the intercity bus and the plan was to get on the TranzAlpine train but guess what.. all the train rides were being suspended because of the virus. So plan b was to book a seat on the bus to get to Christchurch the next day but everything was fully booked.. and also the next 5 days after so I had to think of a plan c, to get out of Greymouth.

I arrived at the hostel and the owner of this hostel was really nice, after he showed me around I went to the nearest car rental. The woman was very helpful and she gave me the best option there was and it was the first time for me to drive in an automatic car so she offered to sit next to me to have a short drive on the parking lot haha. When we came back they said on the radio that we were already in level 3 now.. hmm that is going quickly I thought. When we were arranging the papers for the car, there were 2 New Zealanders that said we were about to move to level 4 within 24 hours. Shit.. what is happening?? I drove back to the hostel and after 2 hours of thinking and a phone call with my parents, I decided to try to go to Auckland on the North Island from Christchurch Airport. I managed to book a flight with AirNZ on the 26th of March, but it was still unsure as many flights were being cancelled due to the virus. But I wanted to give it a shot, so I would be close to the airport for if there would be any repatriation flights. And I also didn't want to put my kiwi family on risk with 2 young kids. 

The drive to Christchurch was so beautiful, but because I wanted to be in Christchurch as soon as possible I didn't take any pictures that day. This road goes through Arthur's pass where the kea's live, where the mountains rise above the flat grasslands. It was truly stunning. After a 3 hour drive I was finally in Christchurch and my flight was still not cancelled  :) When I just arrived in NZ 2 months ago I got tinder with the intention to meet some local people and that is how I met Daniel. When I told him how my situation was when I still was in Greymouth he offered to stay at his house which was so nice. It felt as the right choice to go there and I was hoping my flight would go. 

I switched hotels the next day to be closer to the airport and I tried to relax even though it was an exciting time for me. After a well deserved shower I went outside for a smoke, looked on my phone and then my phone produced a very loud alarm, it scared the crap out of me 😅 It said 'we are now in lockdown, level 4'. So from now on my journey would change completely but not necessarily in a bad way :)

What a relief when I finally stepped on the plane.. I am going to Auckland, back to the North Island! 😁 I was being picked up by such a nice taxi driver, we talked the whole ride haha! After 30 minutes we were there and I was a little nervous because I would be staying with people I didn't met yet, but I couldn't end up in a better place than here. The guys were so nice and I felt at home right away, I felt blessed to be so lucky to meet such wonderful people.