Dunedin – One Week Off And The Journey Begins (Part 3)

Lonely highways got me to sleep until we arrived in Ashburton. Ashburton is a small town near Christchurch. Passengers have 30 minutes to take a break and I indulged myself with a hot latte.

From what I have experienced, if you have a coffee in New Zealand, learn how to avoid electric devices. The locals here love enjoying coffee and tea. I am talking about the real joy, of not ordering a coffee and having your eyes on the phone instead of the view outside. There are so many locals here coming to a coffee shop alone and staying for hours, looking outside and drinking coffee. It makes me feel ashamed because I often keep my eyes on my phone and try to get my work done during coffee time. I finally chose to try what they had done today. Coming to the store, ordering, sitting here for just half an hour doing nothing except taking small sips of latte until the bus continues to go. This rare moment makes me speechless and realize that my busy schedule has taken me out of the real joy. Sometimes, you just need to have a cup of coffee, and do nothing but enjoy every minute passes. It is not the time wasted, it is the time treasured for yourself to breathe, to recharge, and to find your own peace within your soul.

After half an hour of driving, my bus is in Oamaru now. There are some passengers getting on and off at this stop. Therefore, I need to wait a short period of time to continue the journey. As the bus is heading to Dunedin at night, I think it is great going at this time because you will have a chance to look at the sky and believe that we can still have different skies in New Zealand. While Christchurch always retains its beautiful velvet sky, the sky along the way in Oamaru changes to different shapes, such as a cottage, trees, or even a whale, which I am so lucky to capture with my phone. Its changeable feature definitely reminds me of my childhood counting animals ‘flying in the sky’. Five hours on the bus can never be boring if you look around. Nature always makes us in awe for sure.

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