South Island

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Jan 8th
Caught early ferry to Picton -beautiful day - views of Marlborough Sound as we approached Picton absolutely gorgeous. Picked up hire car and drove to Abel Tasman- very busy so we had some difficulty finding a place to stay then found realy nice hostel just a bit in from coast. Booked kayaking and seal swim.
Jan 9th
Kayayed up the coast for about 2 hours with guide- still good weather- really beautiful. Then walked back 12k along Abel Tasman Track- better views from Kayak. Pretty tired at end of day.

Jan 10th
Squeezed into wetsuits for the first time which was an experience in itself. Then out to sea to find some seal to swim with- not the calmest of seas so was glad I had taken seasickness tablet. John 'the walrus' as he was known was a great guide. He had lots of stories and made the day really enjoyable. We only swam with one seal but really enjoyed it and lovede bobbing about in teh water viewing the seals and their pups. Saw the rare reef heron too.
Drove to Nelson Lakes in the afternoon and stayed in lodge near lake.

Jan 11th
Did 1 and a half hour walk- the lake was beautiful- bright sunshine. Then on to the Marlborough where we did some wine tasting. Arrived at hostel with time to play petanque and tennis before dinner! They had courts at in a park behind their property. Had fish and chips and wine for dinner sitting in the garden- perfect!

Jan 12th
Drove car back to Picton and then caught train to Kaikoura. Very scenic journey along coast. After checking in at motel )which hadn't been touched since the 1950's!! Big room with kitchen though and friendly cat! ) Booked surfing lesson and llama trekking as dolphin swimming all booked up!
Walked to stall which serves fish in evening- saw sick seal on the way and phoned teh injured seal hotline! It wasn't there the next day so hopefully it recovered and swam away.

Jan 13th
Walked along to seal colony- saw seals very close up- continued up cliff and did 2 hour walk- very hot. Went swimming at pool in afternoon - sea rather rough.

Jan 14th
Had surf lesson in afternoon- spent 1 and a half hours failing to stand up- Both nearly managed but not quite- rather frustrating.Wil stick to body-boarding I think.

Jan 15th
Another hot day- got picked up at 10.30 for llama trekking- odd Englsih people running it - they seemed rather ill at ease with dealing with the public! The llamas were funny- they were most reluctant to start with and Mike's was particularly awkward and very vocal. We didn't really walk very far really and there was a lot of faffing with cutlery and crockery when we had lunch and coffee break- still it was something different.

Jan 16th
Caught bus to Christchurch-quick look around then dinner at very nice brew pub.

Jan 17th
Had a wander about in morning then picked up car. Drove to Akaroa and stayed in hostel with lovely garden. Mike went for cycle on one of bikes they had.

Jan 18th
Dolphin Swimming- drove to main wharf and had briefing- luckily we found dolphins after about 10 mins in the boat. They were so amazing and we were in the water for 45 mins with them. Mike was swimming in circles with his snorkel on and they were following him round with their head next to him! They were quite small and had a rounded fin on top like Mickey Mouse's ear- Hecto's dolphins are rare - only 7000 exist. It was such an amazing experience. Drove to beaches ove other side of peninsula in afternoon but weather turned bad so headed back to hostel - played scrabble!

Jan 19th
Drove back to Christchurch and down to Oamaru- stayed in hostel 25k south of Oamaru- in evening drove to coast and watched Yellow - eyed penguins- very rare. They were so close to us (4m) and we saw chick on teh cliff- large, brown and fluffy! It was really cold on the headland- an amazing unspoilt place though- loads of seal in water and on shore.

Jan 20th
Drove to Dunedin- went to see Moeraki boulders on the way - loads of coach parties there- aaahh! Arrived in Dunedin for lunch and then found B and B- they had upgraded us as they weren't full. Really big old house on hill- great views. Dunedin very scottish- ridiculous hills in town. Went jogging- found a flat park!!

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