Today's journey was a sojourn to a little place called Makarora. It's one of those quaint little places with one shop that no Kiwi even knows exists. When the Stray bus comes through, it doubles the population. That being said, this was one of my favourite and most memorable stops on the tour.
Getting out early from Franz Josef (who featured prominantly in Anika's nightmare about being chased and crushed by a glacier), we had a gorgeous drive through the green countryside with three full stops for photos of waterfalls, rivers, trees, and stumps resembling thrones which lend themselves perfectly to playing "King of the Forest"
By this time in the tour I felt that the group on the bus was a really solid one. Everybody seemed to know or at least know of everybody else, and we all got along for the most part. The day's travel passed quickly, and before we knew it we were in sleepy Makarora, where popular activities include naps, food, and booze. The one activity offered was an early morning jetboat ride, but I took a pass on that one to save money and have a lazy day.
The other popular attraction of Makarora is the nightly kareoke in the accommodation pub. Normally, there would be no way in hell I'd get up with a microphone in front of me and a midi backup. However, cheap pitchers and great people have magical powers.
About 10 minutes into the evening I was coaxed into a duet of 'Fat Bottom Girls' with Fionnuala, and it was all downhill from there.
Knowing that I would likely not see many of these people for a good long while, I decided to keep the ball rolling, and encourage other reluctant performers to show us what they had with the ol' vocal chords.
The final playlist looked a little something like this:
-Fat Bottom Girls with Fionnuala
-Gangsta's Paradise with Astrid (Canada represent!)
-500 Miles with Alan, Curtis, and Kevin
-Surfin' USA with the other guys
-Ms. Jackson with Curtis
-Total Eclipse of the Heart with Kevin, Cally, and Fionnuala
Following our inebriated march from the pub, we noticed that the entire sky was bright with stars. The most amazing night's sky I've ever seen. The Milky Way was clearly visible and we even saw a shooting star!
It was eventually finally time to turn in, and everyone slept comfortably in Hut 18 (boom), a 10-bed A-frame structure with it's own bathroom and shower and enough room for everyone to have a single bed and individual reading lights for all.
A note from Fionnuala reading "Best Night Out Ever!!!" seemed to adequately sum up the procedings and we were all a little buzzed boarding Anna the bus the next day.
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