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Published: March 26th 2007
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We don't want to dwell on the past but all we have to say is that compared to last week, this week has been out of this world!
Where do I start? Ok well we last left you when we had just arrived in Abel Tasman. The following day we took a cruise around the National park where we got to see Seals in the wild and some pretty amazing views. Then we were dropped off at one of the beaches and told to walk back, only kidding! the walking part was actually a part of the trip. We tramped as the Kiwi's call it, along the Abel Tasman coastal track, one of New Zealand's great walks. It took four hours of walking to make it down the track to the pick up point having made a lunch stop where we bumped into the girls we spent time with in the Cook Islands and Fiji which was rather random considering where we had stopped was a deserted beach. At our pick up point, 12 km down the track we were then treated to a fast water taxi ride to our base at Marahau where we stayed at Old MacDonalds Farm,
Verity tramping!
on the Abel Tasman coastal track a real working farm, doubling up as a camp site. They had all sorts of animals including Alpacas! Also whilst up north (of the south Island) we took a drive up to see the Pupu springs, the clearest natural springs in the world, funny name but apparently that's just the shortened version as the full name is too hard to pronounce.
Next stop after a long drive and an overnight stay was Kaikura which according to the Lonely Planet guide is a mecca for wildlife which we were both pretty excited about as we had also heard it was the best place in New Zealand to swim with Dolphins. The first wildlife encounter was on the drive down there as we were able to pull over into a layby/Seal colony viewing point. Once we arrived in Kaikura we headed for the I- Site post to check out prices for Dolphin swims and Whale watching, ideally we wanted to do a trip which encorporated both but unfortunately they didn't exist. As both of us really wanted to swim with Dolphins far more than anything, we decided to book it. However we were told that the only available spot they had
One of many...
..awesome views from the coastal track! left was on Saturday at 05:30 in the morning which obviously would mean getting up rather early!!! After stepping outside to discuss it we decided that we couldn't pass up such a great opportunity and plus we both realised that we would be out there at sunrise which would therefore make the experience that much more spectacular. So we spent the following day (friday) looking forward to saturday while taking in another Seal colony, lying on the beach, keeping up with our fish and chip fridays and then early to bed.
So with the alarm going off at 04:45 on saturday morning we got up and headed to the Dolphin Encounter HQ where we got wetsuited up and headed for the bus. As we got to the dock we could see that the sun was starting to rise which signalled that what was to come was going to be something to remember. With the sun rising in the background we took a boat out to search for the Dusky Dolphins as they are not guaranteed to be at any certain spot at any certain time, it's a matter of finding them ourselves. Once our guide had signalled that we
Old MacDonald had a farm..
..and on that farm he had an ALPACA! were coming up to a pod we donned our flippers and snorkels and took our places at the back of the boat ready for the horn to blast which was the signal to jump off the boat and start swimming. Once over the initial shock of jumping into not so warm water (the Pacific Ocean) we found ourselves surrounded by a whole pod of Dolphins. It was amazing how they were swimming all around us, underneath us and even jumping over us while we swam around trying to keep them interested with a bit of entertainment including a bit of singing as we were told they respond to noise. After three seperate sessions in the water lasting for about an hour in total we got out to hot chocolate and ginger biscuits, well not all of us as I got out and soon had to run to the toilet to be sick!!! I wasn't sure whether it was the excitement or just sea sickness but actually something tells me it was the large amount of sea water I consumed whilst in the sea! and the fact that some other girl was being sick as we got back on the boat,
which set me off. We were then able to take pictures of the Dolphins as they stuck around for a while, jumping out of the water and showing off to their friends, which is what Dusky Dolphins are known for as they are also known as the acrobatic Dolphin. Before heading back we were informed that we had been extremely lucky in what we had seen that day and as our guide put it "this is as good as it gets" as two pods had come together and we were swimming with a group of 800-1000 Dolphins! Pretty amazing huh?
After recovering from the mornings antics we headed to the Franz Joseph Glacier which was a 7 hour drive. So as you can imagine when we got there we collapsed in a heap and went straight to bed dreaming of what we had done that morning.
In Franz Joseph we booked ourselves a Glacier hike as we were feeling pretty fit from all the other physical activities we had already done that week. The hike we booked was in fact for the Fox Glacier which is only a half hour drive from Franz Joseph and the reason for
Gary at sunrise
on the way to the Dusky Dolphins! choosing the Fox hike over Franz Joseph was mainly down to cost as it was that little bit cheaper, plus Fox is less touristy. With another early start we headed over to the Fox HQ we got booted up and given our crampons and then got on the Bus which took us to the bottom of the Glacier. We then got into our groups and headed off for the LONG walk up to the Glacier, and we were only doing the half day hike! After the rather scary walk, worrying the whole way about falling over the edge, we made it to our entry point to the Glacier where we put on our crampons and picked up our Spiked walking sticks ready for the ice walk. We walked along and up the Glacier, passed the members of staff digging steps for us and taking in the view where we could also see other people ice climbing (nutters). After about an hour on the ice we made our way back down to dry land and then back along the track to the bus. In the afternoon we took a more leisurely stroll around Lake Matheson where we saw amazing views of
Mt Cook and Mt Aoraki. At this rate we'll be super human by the time we get back.
We're now in Queenstown and have only got just over a week left in NZ. Next time we blog we will probably be in Christchurch which is our last stop and where we have to say a sad farewell to Genesis our trusty travel companion.
Until then.....
Be cool
V & G
xx
p.s Gary has finally had a beard trim, he had to go to a hairdressers in Kaikura and ask for a grade one over his face!
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