Grim Mouth

Sunday 25th November

Grim mouth wasn’t any better in the daylight, even the YHA hostel was a bit grim – a little unfriendly and not that welcoming. A small windswept walk to what the locals call a beach which was a grim pebblestone embankment down to the beach didn’t make any of us feel any better so the only option was to find a coffee shop in hope that the tea and coffee wasn’t grim either. Our well deserved cup of tea and muffin was the best thing about Grimmouth. We were taking the Trans Alpine train across to Christchurch today so had to wait around till 2pm in this gorgeous grey town. Time did actully pass by the time we had gone into the only two shops open on this grim sunday at the mouth of a grey town, sat and had lunch on a railway station bench and gone for a wee or two. The station soon became packed full of Obnoxious Americans, so even before we boarded the train a grey vibe was begining to exhale around. The train journey although beautiful in its own way we felt it was overhyped. My parents after their wonderful experience on the “overlander” in North Island which they thoroughly enjoyed felt it lacked a special something. I was disapointed for my Parents that the train didn’t stop at Arthurs Pass – a fantastic little village that I stopped at last year. It all felt a bit rushed and a bit touristy. Shame we should have drived it really and stopped at the very cute “flock hill” accomodation where we stopped at last year. Once in Christchurch we found our ways to our accomodations. My parents at the luxurious “Copethorpe Hotel”, me at at the rather large YHA central. The hostel was clean, but rather too large for its own good, and therefore impersonal. People come and people go and I feel really lonely here, really quite lost, even though my parents are just round the corner.