Blog #17– Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin

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Blog #17– Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin - December 3 - 8, 2010
After our tramp we drove to Nelson and stayed with a family that Emily had become friends with during her year here. They took us out in their boat on the Tasman Bay, up the coast to Separation Point and the end of the Abel Tasman Track. We were delighted to be surrounded at one point by a school/pod of dolphins! It was so exciting that Emily jumped overboard fully clothed to swim with them – she found it especially thrilling when one dove right underneath her. It was hard to take a well focussed picture of a surfacing dolphin on a pitching boat. We also saw fur seals at Tonga Island, a colony of shags (cormorants), enjoyed a great picnic at Quarry Bay, and an afternoon break on Adele Island. After a fantastic day on the water we returned to Emily’s friends’s house. In addition to a wonderful barbecue we enjoyed the fantastic view of the ocean from their back deck.

The next day we left for Christchurch. We attended a lovely sung ‘evensong’ service at Christchurch Cathedral, visited the botanical gardens, and Emily and Jim went to an Art Museum to see a sculpture display. Then we headed down the coast in the rain. We stopped at to see the very unusual Moeraki Boulders enroute to Dunedin.

Dunedin was cold, damp and windy – even in summer. I could understand why Emily was bundled up on all of our Skype calls last year. Jim and I visited the excellent museum and then browsed around the ‘Octagan’ (downtown square) one day, stopping in at a Scottish pub – a must in Dunedin. We stopped in at her campus, helped her take a lot of stuff to the ‘Op’ shops and used bookstores, and had lots of fun visits with her room-mates. They had friends from North America visiting also! Jim found a great fish shop so one night he cooked a spectacular fish supper for the whole household. Then, farewell to Emily’s exchange year and off for more adventures.

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Comments

[Kate D]

Keep em coming
Thanks for continuing to share your trip. I have a friend who lived in Dunedin for a year and had comments about the weather rather like yours. Happy travels , Kate