Blogs from Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 46

Day 76 & 77 We were picked up by the Kiwi bus for the last time and drove up to Kaikoura, a small costal town which is famous for whale watching and dolphins. We arrived about 11 and at 12 we headed for the dolphin Encounter where we got ready to swim with dolphins!! We boarded the boat and 30 minutes later we were sitting on the edge ready to jump in with a pod of 200 dusky dolphins!! It was sooooooooooo amazing. We tried to swim like dolphins while singing and making funny noises to get them to play with us. We swam with them in cirlces while they jumped around us and were looking us in the eye. It was truely fantastic. We did another 3 swims, all of which were brilliant and then ... read more

Well its been an interesting first week or so. I left Auckland on the 15th after being treated to an authentic New Zealand meal by Rob who picked me up from the airport. Lamb chops, venison sausage, chicken kabobs, and Kamaru, a native sweet patatoe. Then for desert a delicious Marangue cake with whip cream on the top and fruit. The next day I caught the transcenic train to Wellington at the bottom of the South Island. A 12 ride turned into a 16 hour ride with a 2 hour detour by bus due to electical failure along the track. I stayed in Base Backpackers an extra day because I didn't get to the hostel until after midnight after the train ride. I met a couple from Switzerland that are biking all over the world for ... read more

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! I hate the weather! We did not get to do our swimming with dolphins yesterday as it was too windy! It was not that windy in town but apparently it was very windy out to sea and a trip that had gone out earlier had to come back early. The thing that made it all the more irritating was the fact that we had booked it months ago before we left the UK as they get booked up weeks and weeks in advance. We think we will try and go somewhere in the North Island. We did go on a really good walk around the Kaikoura Peninsular though. It was a loop walk that took you along the shoreline then back along the cliff top. There were loads of seagulls (black-billed and red-billed) nesting on ... read more

We decided to spend our Christmas here by the sea. The main event here was to be Whale watching. We'd intended to go on Christmas Eve but high winds meant we had to wait till Boxing Day. We managed to see several Albatrosses, two Sperm Whales ( which only appear on the surface for a few minutes between hour long dives ) and no dolphins ( which don't actually exist by the way ). I took a few pictures of the Whales whilst Sara continuously chucked up, filling several bags. Slightly less vomit ridden was a nice horse ride we took in the foothills behind the town, and a walk to the local seal colony on Christmas Day.... read more

This message comes from Kaikora, again. We have come back in an effort to try and get another shot at the whale watching tour. So far no penguins but a few dolphins and many seals. So that is pretty good on the wildlife front. As far as updating since the last blog well much has happened and many kilometers traveled. The whirlwind tour continues. After leaving Glacier land we headed south along the western coast which bears resemblence to a Pacific Island (go figure). Giant cliffs falling into torquoise water (sp?) After a nite near Wanaka we headed into Fiordland to Milford Sound which is actaully a fiord (created by a glacier) not a sound (created by a river) lest you get specific. This is the place you see in all the pictures. 2000-3000m mtns falling ... read more