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Published: January 20th 2008
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going accross on the ferry
through the marlborough sounds, it was beautiful. heeeellllooooo,
Wow where do we start. we stayed one night in picton after we got off the ferry, just because we did not fancy a long drive after it. it was a very bumpy crossing, hels you would have been green i am sure. me and mart were both ready to get off. It was very picturesc and all we thought of was marts grandad, (hello dave) you would just love all the views and animal life in NZ.
After picton we drove the three hour journey to kaikoura. This place is know for its massive marine life. there is a canyon in the sea, just 1 mile from the shore. the water level goes from 70 meters and then suddenly to1600 meters. Because of this and beacuse of the currents flowing from the couth and north, this canyon has so many nutrients for the marine life to eat. hence whay there are sperm whales, orcas (killer whales), dolphins, sharks, seals and all sorts of other fish. there are also lots of bird colonys on the cliff tops. So it is like something form the nature programs. just beautiful.
we went for a walk yesterday afternoon along a
sid the seal
There are colony's of these all around Kiakoura, they are massive NZ fur seals national walkway, which takes you along the cliff tops and then down along the shore line. there are just seals everywhere, and you just walk past them like they are trees. me and mart loved it. they are all so cute, lazing around on the rocks. We did have a scarey incounter with one male seal though. we were just going around the cliff along the shore, when we saw a big fat seal in our path. We knew there was no way past really unless he moved at bit. (they say to stay away from them, as their bites can be nasty). we waited for a bit as he started to waddle off towards the sea, but then he just laid down, and looked as though he was not going anywhere. as the walk back for us was only this way, or to go all the way back round, to go up the path to the cliff top, we decided to try to slip past him as he was not looking our way. we then got round the corner and saw three more in our path, and then this big fat one spotted us and reared up, opened his
they were so cute just to watch
but we did have a scary incounter!!!! mouth and growled, and started coming for us. we both sreamed and ran the other way. so funny when we talk about it now, but at the time we thought we were seal meals. Even mart screamed like a girl. So we ended up walking all around the cliff. It was just so nice to see them so close and just to see them swimming around, loving their lives in the water. people even go snorkelling with them. mad i never would. but i am a woss
so today we got up at 5.25am. No not just for the fun of it, but because we had booked a whale watching trip at 6.15. we watched the sun come up and then headed out to sea. It has been really windy here the past two days, very sunny, but windy. so the trip seemed cold and the boat was bumping along on massive swells. we thought this added some adventure to the tip. Some others obviously did not agree, as they had their heads in sick bags. so we went out to the canyon, as the whales feed here, and the captain on the boat gets his radar in the
water, has a listen to where the whales are and off we go. first off we thought oh no, no whales, then all of a sudden, we hear sssswwwwoooossshhhhh, up comes sperm whale number one. they stay on the top of the water for about 5-15 mins, they just take in lots of air and digest their food. they are funny as they do not go anywhere they just kinda float there until they dive back down again for food. it was massive and we felt so close to him. it was about 18 meters long, and was just magical to see. When they surface you only see just over half of their body. i took lots of pics and mart was the man on video. When they dive down and their tales just come up out of the water, it is just great. so so glad we did this trip and have seen all of these amazing creatures. we did see another one about 15 minutes later. the first one was called Little Nick and this one was even bigger and was called saddleback. the tale shots are great aint they!!!! Most whales here are local, so the crew
of the ship recongise each one by marks on their backs or fins, hence "little nick". He had a nick out of his fin. We then motored around a seal island, which had loads of seal pups on. They were so cute. You'll all get to see the footage mart shot when we get home. On the way back into harbor, little nick surfaced again. They dive anywhere between 30mins to 2.30 hours on one lung full of air! Plus their lungs are no bigger than cows lungs. Mad hey. So nick had been down for an hour since our first sighting. So the trip was a real high and we are so glad we got to see these awesome creatures in their natural environment.
We did then go back to the campsite for some breakfast and a sleep, as we are not used to the early mornings!!!!!This avo we have just walked into town to update you guys as we've been so excited to share our news. This may seem unimpressive, but this is not disney world, our sea world, this is the ocean, and all of these animals are just here in the wild. Its blown us
Little nick
this was such an awesome experience both away to see this.
Well thats about it for now, we move onto christchurch tomorrow, so back on the road. Love you all loads. Mart and Sophs. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Housey
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What a start to the South Island indeed!!!
The photos are awesome. You are right Soph it is no SeaWorld!!!! Amazing. That is a proper experience!!! They must have been massive. I was laughin when you said about the Seal on the path. I can imagine you guys screaming and running away! ha ha ha!!! They are massive though! Funny-Scarey encounter!!!!!! Mart the Chilli looks lovely, the cooking is obviously coming on. The sun rise is also beauty. My screen saver on my computer is the Petronas Towers, such a contrast from there. It looks beauty. Just the first few days in NZ south. So much more to see. I look forward to the next instalment. Love you. Housey x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x