Next stop

Next stop. Bus stop. One to Kilmore Street, please. QR Code. <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/105917053/christchurch-buses-equipped-with-quick-mobile-links-to-kiwi-stories">Commuting stories.</a> Travellers' tales. <a href="http://thecommutingbook.org/stories/hermiones-pockets/">Hermione's pocket</a> full of magical things.

Turn over the Canterbury Plain. Enveloped in cloud, nose towards a rising sun. Too soon we dip into the cloud, encased in grey, missing the sun.

Nearly there. Next stop. Manchester Street near Kilmore Street. Ready to ring the bell. St Luke's bell tower. All that's left. <a href="http://www.labyrinthsnz.com/christchurch-city/4560070089">Labyrinth </a>and memories.

Next stop. Memorial Ave. House shapes in the mist. Next stop. Fendalton Street. Rugged up, scarves and hats. Briskly walking, bending into the cold.

Dark morning. Cold. Sleepless night. Always the same when I set the alarm for an early start. 5am. Hit snooze. Delay the inevitable. Slow to start. Porridge for breakfast. Going through the motions. Bleary eyed boy. Woken from the warmth of slumber. Pay back time. Taxi service.

snow capped mountains seen from above, deep valleys filled with mist

view of the propeller and engine of a plane touching the sunrise seen from the passenger window. Clouds beneath. 

Briefcases and laptops. Headphones plugged in. Noses in books. Tip tapping on keyboards. Safe in our worlds. Wordless.

Snow covered mountains viewed from above, orange sunrise on the horizon

Next stop. Christchurch, 'International' airport. Dark gives way to light, almost unnoticeably. Head in my book, I sense the lightening sky.

Sometimes I feel inspired to jot my random thoughts down on paper... don't know why and, to be honest, it doesn't happen often. Somehow the repetition of the 'Next Stop' message on the bus from the airport to work jolted my vaguely creative brain and I decided to write about my journey to work from Hamilton to Christchurch. I wish I'd thought to take photos out of the bus window. But I didn't, so you just have my words instead. Not as pretty but they'll have to do. Anne @robeanne August 2018 CC-BY

Then, snow-capped mountains, sun-kissed. Clouds cling to the flanks and sink in the valleys. A shade of white separates clouds from snow.

From light to dark. Christchurch beneath a cloud. Dampness creeps into my bones as we caterpillar across the tarmac. Heads down. Shouldering bags.

Next stop. Harper Ave. Tall tree silhouettes. Ethereal giants.

a sea of cloud sits on the plain to the right the mountains rise above the cloud. Snow covered mountains in the distance

Next stop. Hamilton, no longer 'International' airport. Window seat. Murmurs of 'hellos' and 'excuse mes' as passengers board. Morning politeness. Sleep deprived commuters.

Name

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