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Published: January 9th 2010
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Wednesday morning
Hitting the road (I wish!) in the Hotel So-bile We’re back from our last trip to the south island. It’s bittersweet; sweet because we absolutely love the the south island, with its small population (less than 25% live down here!), breathtaking vistas, and can't-put-your-finger-on-what-it-is magical feel. It’s almost like a country of its own. But it’s also bitter, because we won’t be going back again for a very long time, if ever.
Anyway, we spent our week well. We wanted to get an early start on our first day, so we took a night flight to Christchurch so we could get going right away the next morning. The trip up to Kaikoura was pretty, with lots of driving right along the ocean, through narrow tunnels and so forth. We had lunch in town and then went whale watching. The whales in Kaikoura change throughout the year - sometimes there are even orcas - but sperm whales are a pretty stable presence. Fortunately, we got to see lots! We saw five sperm whales, all within a short time frame. They float on top of the water and then, when they’re ready to dive for food, they slowly porpoise, curving their spines and eventually ending with their tailfins in the air.
Sperm whales
The sperm whales float on the surface for several minutes... It’s so neat to see. We also got to see a pod of dusky dolphins swimming, playing, flipping, and racing the boat. To top it all off, we saw a club of fur seals swimming around and sunning themselves on a large rock. I don’t think there are many things cuter than watching a baby seal learn to crawl.
From Kaikoura, we went up to Blenheim, which is the heart of Marlborough wine country. We made our way through the sun-soaked vineyards to our hotel. It was a pretty, simple, modern apartment, with a nice patio situated right off a vineyard. It was an ideal setting for the gorgeous sunset.
The next day we had a winery tour. Because it was Christmas Eve, there weren’t many people, just us and another couple. We had a good time visiting eight or so wineries. My favorite - and I believe Aaron’s favorite - was Spy Valley, named for its proximity to a satellite base. We had first sampled their wine in the Coromandel in September. It is delicious and, we were pleased to discover, very inexpensive. Cloudy Bay was another standout, as was the cellar tour at Johanisof. We ended
Again
before porpoising... the day with a tasty dinner at our hotel - but not before a wine-induced nap.
Christmas morning saw us driving to Nelson. Nearly everything was closed that day, so we went tramping (hiking) in Abel Tasman, New Zealand’s smallest national park. We walked along for a bit and then made our way to a remote beach. Surprise - there were lots of people there! It was very pretty and relaxing, but we had to make our way back for the Christmas buffet dinner at the Honest Lawyer. We met a couple of girls there who were from Toronto and talked with them for a bit.
The next day was spent exploring Nelson. Nelson’s downtown is about the size of Rotorua’s, but they have a few more options in terms of shops and restaurants. To me, Nelson feels very laid back and beachy, surprising when you consider that there’s no beach. It’s also a creative center, with lots of artists and galleries. We went to a very cool permanent-but-evolving exhibit called the World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Museum. I implore you to check it out at www.wowcars.co.nz - and then link through to www.worldofwearableart.com to see more
And again
and finally heading straight down for food. of the crazy "outfits."
From Nelson we went back to Christchurch. It was chilly and gray - certainly nothing like the weather in most of the US, but still unseasonably cold. Again, there wasn’t much to do since it was Sunday of a holiday weekend. We walked around town a bit and went punting on the Avon. Punting is very similar to taking a gondola boat. The differences are that the guide stands at the back (as opposed to the front), s/he pushes off the bottom of the river rather than rowing, and the bottom of the boat is flat instead of curved. We had wanted to go punting when we were in Christchurch in September, but it was a bit chilly. The irony is that this time, it wasn’t any warmer.
The last stop on our journey was Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula east of Christchurch. A beautiful yet treacherous drive through the mountains gave us the first glimpse of the town, which means “long harbour.” Akaroa is a French settlement, so most of the restaurants have French names and serve some sort of French cuisine. The streets have names like Rue Jolie, Rue Balgerie, and so
Playful dusky dolphins
They hung around the boat for quite awhile. forth. It is a quaint, cheerful, walk-through-it-in-10-minutes kind of town (that’s 10 minutes without stopping).
Akaroa is home to Hector’s dolphins, the smallest, rarest dolphins in the world. Of course we wanted to swim with them. We put on thick, floatable wet suits and set out with a group of 10 to find some friendly ones. It took a bit but we finally managed to find a couple near the edge of the harbour. Due to its proximity to the Pacific, it was COLD, and the water was pretty choppy. But it was worth it - we ended up having 14 dolphins come over to play. Aaron had a couple of stones he was clicking together - they love noises, so everyone was clucking and wooing and giggling upside down into their snorkels, with the end of the snorkels in the water. It was funny even if you weren’t a dolphin.
After a dinner of super-fresh fish and chips (fush and chups, as it’s pronounced in Kiwi English), and a breakfast the following day of some delicious Akaroa salmon, our trip was over. We flew from Christchurch to Auckland and were home by sundown.
Though we are
Barney's Rock
This is where the seals were hanging out, sunning and swimming. done travelling to the south island, we have a few more trips yet. We’ll be in Wellington next weekend, and then in the Auckland area a week-and-a-half later. Finally we have a 2+ week holiday in Thailand before coming home. So this isn’t the last you’ll hear from us! Stay tuned…
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Dad
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Enjoyed reading your informative blog.