Day 35 - A Sunday Gondola Ride

​I enjoyed a leisurely morning this morning, including a WhatsApp call with Matt and Dad. Their budget related chat didn’t last long, so it was a lovely call. 

I then headed out to find the bus to the Christchurch Gondola. The gondola is about 5 miles out of the city, so I had to either catch a normal bus or the gondola shuttle service. As the normal bus had a published timetable and left from near my apartment, I chose that option.

I started to regret my choice when a teenager at the back of the bus was playing loud ‘music’ (Yes, I was tempted to use my teacher voice), at the same time as the father in front of me started playing the ABC song for his young child. The two did not mix well. Just as my sanity was really at risk, luckily the teenager discovered headphones, and the father and child reached their stop. The rest of the ride was uneventful. 

The gondola really did feel like it was a bit in the middle of nowhere, but the views going up were great. The views from the top were even better! 


There was also a very nice cafe at the top, so I enjoyed lunch/dunch there before heading outside for a bit of a walk around. I tried to be guided by geocaches, but with hindsight this may not have been my best idea as I failed to find both physical caches I wanted to find, and it was rather an uphill climb to get back up the hill to the gondola station! I really could not complain about the views though, and I think it was good exercise too.


After a bit more of an explore, I got the gondola back down the hill, and got back on the bus. This time it was the bus driver and another passenger who were singing. I put my headphones in. 

Once back in the city centre, I made a couple of stops - once for a geocache (to make up for my earlier failures) and once at the shop to get some food for this evening. 

I then returned to my apartment, and have had a quiet evening - doing laundry, generally pottering, and finishing watching season 2 of Ted Lasso. Yes, I am late to that party!


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