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Published: February 25th 2009
Sunset at New Plymouth
That's a chimney, not a lighthouseSince I last talked in Auckland, I've traveled a bit. I've gone down to New Plymouth, then an overnight near Wellington, then a ferry across the Cook Straight, then a train from Picton to Kaikoura.
In New Plymouth we had our first exam for Art History. I think I did rather well. We also went on a geological trip to the nearby beaches where cliffs had been uplifted to show the many layers that makes up the earth. It was a short stay in New Plymouth, which was good because the grocery store was a good 45 minute walk each way. I was able to get a few shots of the sunset here; glorious.
The next stop left us right outside Wellington, at this little hostel place. There was a goat running around and a few peahens. And a donkey. We woke up at 5am the next day and rolled out on time; this pleased our "General".
The New Zealand InterIslander was basically a mini cruise ship. It sported eight decks, a bar, cafe, restaurant, theater, and several lounge areas. Only a three hour trip it was. Getting off the ferry marked the start of our South Island leg of
Rock Wall
We had to stare at this for over 2 hours... the trip. It's bound to get colder as we move south.
Our first stay is in Kaikoura. Prof Reichert told us on arrival that he would give us a day to ourselves if we managed to book a dolphin encounter tour. So we did! Monday was a class day, however. We spent the morning wandering over tidepools with our Biology prof. We found seals and critons and I found a starfish. There were little shrimps and fish too, but overall, there wasn't much to see at these pools. Geology was in the afternoon; we looked at folds in limestone formations. I won't bore you with any more.
The dolphin encounter was canceled on the day we booked. Too rough weather. We gave them our number in the hope that we could be fit in at some point before we left. The call came this morning after 8 of our group had left to go on a hike to this fossil beach. We had to run the 1-2 miles, to get to the place on time. It was my first time in a full wetsuit and boy was I glad for it. The water was 55 degrees.
We ran
The Mini Cruiseship
This is the only photo I got of the Interislander into a pod of 200 dolphins so we jumped in and they swam by us. Then we got back in the boat and chased them until we got ahead, then jumped in again so they could swim by us. It was so much fun! =) We did this about 5 times, then had hot coco & ginger cookies. The swells were pretty big and the water was murky, so we were lucky to go out.
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Kathy
non-member comment
How cool is that?!!!! I would love to swim with a dolphin. I am so glad you got to experience that. How are you liking the food? sounds like you are enjoying yourself - the photos are great! Hope you are getting some rest!