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Published: April 4th 2024
We drove to Mt. Cook National Park for Easter Day. This park is home to the largest peak in all of Australasia, Mt. Cook, and 72 glaciers. The park is equidistant between Christchurch and Queenstown, which we quickly learned means it's overrun by hordes of daytrip tourists. We hiked the busy main 3.5 mile trail on the Hooker Valley trail to Hooker lake. It was a warm and sunny day so the swim in the glacier lake I planned on was not entirely unpleasant. The water was a brisk 37 degrees but it felt like all of our cold plunge training culminated in this one moment to sit on some icebergs and to a crowd of 100+ spectators.
We were traveling a bit ahead of schedule at this point so I decided to keep on cracking the whip and driving on, spending the night outside Lake Tekapo after visiting their thermal baths and having a nice soak and sauna. We decided to head back to Kaikoura for our last day and give the Dolphins one more shot after seeing they had some space on a 0600 swim our last day. As much as we had enjoyed New Zealand,
realistically I wasn't sure when we'd be back and have another shot and I was willing to take the gamble. I also booked the Albatross encounter boat tour right after our Dolphins too, why not? This is one of the best places in the world after all.
We spent our last evening in the camper at our favorite spot of all, right on the beach in Kaikoura. We had this camp all to ourselves and we watched our Dolphins nearby from the desolate black sand shoreline. Dennis was finally the mayor of bartertown, but the rank was short lived when another lone camper came later that night.
We woke up nervously in the morning, first making sure the car started, and then that the sea conditions were calm enough to swim. All was perfect and we headed out in in gentle seas in the dark. As the sun rose the dolphins were elusive at first, far from where we saw them the previous night, but they were there. We got 4 separate swims with them, about 15 mins each. The water was cold, we were all in 5mm west suits with a 10mm core
and hood, but not Mt. Cook iceberg cold. None of us cared about the cold once we were in the water and paddling hard to find the Dolphins in the murky waters, squeaking and trying to swim as dolphin like as possible as was their recommendation. The visibility was approximately 10 ft. or less so when we saw them, they were in touching distance, and dozens of them. We could hear their high pitched squeaks and clicks and a few stopped to circle us and check us out before moving on. They were wild and untrained animals so we were thrilled they seemed sometimes curious and totally unafraid of our presence.
After our dolphin tour we stayed on the dock and met up with the Albatross tour consisting of only 2 other passengers. We drove out to the canyon where the pelagic birds live. Dennis and I don’t consider ourselves birders by any stretch but we love wildlife and growing up coastal we love shorebirds. My father had an encyclopaedic knowledge of birds and fish and he passed that appreciation onto us growing up. He said he hoped he’d be reincarnated as a seagull, so anytime I see one
by himself nearby I always think of him. The captain followed a fishing boat and put out a basket of fish guts I’m the water to chum in the birds, and boy did they come. The Albatross were absolutely incredible and we both were enthralled by them and amazed by their sheer size. They can reach weights of up to 30 lbs and wingspans of 11ft and live 50 years, fly 10,000 miles in one trip and spend years of their life never touching land. Had Dad ever saw an albatross I have no doubt this would’ve been his bird, it’s mine now.
With that we dined on one last seafood meal before driving back to Christchurch and slowly making our long journey back home. This was our longest campervan trip yet and it solidified our love of this method of travel and what want and need in a van when we retire in the next few years. Until next blog… Fiji in November!
