{"id":4500,"date":"2020-03-20T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T11:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4500"},"modified":"2020-03-20T07:36:22","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T11:36:22","slug":"new-zealand-picton-to-christchurch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/20\/new-zealand-picton-to-christchurch\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand: Picton to Christchurch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We were up at 5AM to catch the dawn bus for the long ride to Christchurch. (See previous New Zealand posts<\/a>.) The above photo is actually from later, after we were well on our way. Yawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Piwaka Lodge<\/a> was packed with hikers (“trampers”), but we were up early enough to avoid the rush for the included hot or cold breakfast. Suitably nourished and caffeinated, we walked the 10 minutes to the Intercity bus stop, as dawn was breaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bus was large and spacious — designed for long distances — and offered limited free wi-fi, plus whatever cellphone and data signals you could catch on your own as you rolled through the countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Phone\/Tech aside:<\/strong> We’re on T-Mobile at home, which has reciprocal arrangements with other service providers around the world: Our regular SIM cards and phones worked fine with Vodaphone and several other companies in New Zealand; no special signup, no configuration change, no new SIM needed. Although the coverage was spotty out in the countryside, where ever there was a signal, we could usually get and use it. The no-extra-charge T-Mobile deal has data and speed caps, so we’d use wi-fi when it was available. But it was nice not to have to buy a SIM or a disposable phone.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Relatedly,<\/strong> I used a VPN to keep my online activities private while using unknown access providers. I use Express VPN<\/a> as my main VPN — it has lots of fast servers around the world — and the ultra-simple Canadian Tunnelbear<\/a> VPN as my backup.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we crossed from Picton to the eastern coastal roads, the dawn was a spectacle of color and light, even through the bus windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n