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Published: February 26th 2009
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Visiting the Wallabees
Carol and Arthur holding baby wallabees Wow, swimming with seals in the South Pacific Ocean for my birthday!! More on that later....
My parents are visiting New Zealand for 6 weeks. They are in their mid-70's, but very sprightly, and since my Dad brought me up to believe that the only good vacation is one where you FIT EVERYTHING IN and NO RESTING ALLOWED, well, it's coming back to haunt him now. He also believes in FUN FUN FUN and here I refer you to HIS travelblog for his version of the trip at travelblog.org/Bloggers/KingArthur for those who would like to hear his perspective.
Meanwhile, my parents arrived last Wednesday after a grueling 40 hr journey with a short detour through Japan en route to Christchurch. Hey, that's what you get for using frequent flyer miles. I met them at the airport (me and all the Japanese) with a sign held aloft reading "PARENTS" since everyone else at the international arrivals gate had a sign, and I didn't want them to feel left out. Our first stop was the "Parent's Room" at the airport; I'm not sure why, but it seemed the right place to go.
Actually, I expected them
Cookie Time
The travellers' first stop in Christchurch to be like dead fish for the first few days due to jet lag, but they have been amazingly chipper and never seemed to even feel the 18 hr time difference. They jumped right into the NZ time zone and never looked back. We did have 2 "quiet" days in Timaru for them to see the local sights, take a few walks, meet some friends and to visit Gwen and the wallabees. The weather was unseasonably cool for those days and I know they don't believe it is really summer here!!
On Saturday we set out on a 10 day loop of the North Island. We headed north past Christchurch on our 5 hour trip to Kaikora, on the east coast. Enroute we stopped at a winery or two, and had lunch in an outdoor courtyard at Waipara Valley vineyard, which was lovely. By then the sun had emerged and it was warming up. My mom got down to just 2 layers!! We arrived in Kaikora and took about an hour long walk from South Bay on the Kaikora Peninsula, which has beautiful sea and mountain views. In fact, Kaikora is known as being the town between the
Kaikoura
along the beach walk sea and mountains, as well as being a fertile feeding ground for whales, dolphins and seals. Loyal readers will recall that Randy and I visited here back in August and went whale watching.
We stopped at Kaikora Seafood Barbeque, not more than a roadside stand, but one of the best places for fresh seafood, for a late dinner snack, then returned to our hostel, "The Lazy Shag", which ironically was the first hostel Randy and I tried after arriving in NZ. It's nothing special, but it's clean, and the price is right. My parents are now proud card-carrying members of the BBH (Budget Backpacker Hostels) which gives them $3 off per person and a free $20 phone card each. Hey, at $25 per person per night, it adds up!! We were able to get a triple room and it is a brand new one, but there were a few glitches. My dad was taking a shower the first night when the timer on the bathroom light expired and left him lathering up in the dark-the unfortunate part was that the light switch was not reachable as it was on the outside of the room!! My mom still hasn't
Dad on the Peninsula Walk
You have to climb over a turnstile along the path so the cows can't get through! stopped laughing. (Timers on the light switches are NOT usual in hostels!!)
Saturday (my birthday) we breakfasted at the hostel on yummy chocolate croissants and blueberry muffins that I found on the day old shelf at the bakery down the road, then made our plans for the day. By then the skies were bright blue and it was a lovely day. My parents wanted to take the Whale Watch and I was eager to try the seal swim. I was enthusiastic enough to brave the cold ocean water to do it. So I left my parents on stand-by at the the whale watch (they got in after an hour) and I got a spot on the seal swim. I do not have any pictures of this event, so I will have to paint the experience in words for you.
First they suit you up in a double layer of wetsuits (12 mm total); a regular sleeveless suit topped by a jacket with a HOOD(!), snorkel, mask and fins. There were 12 of us on this trip, including some kids. The kids were put in a triple layer of wetsuit; just layering them one on top of
Mom at the Summit
looking over the South Pacific the other!! We went by bus a short distance to a beach where an inflatable boat was waiting to take us a short distance offshore to an island where the seals breed. Getting into the boat involved walking over rocks and slippery kelp, then climbing up a platform on the stern. This was the hardest part of the whole trip. Note to self: water shoes are very good for this part.
Apparently the seals seen on the beach are just resting after feeding offshore for 2-3 days straight, but the real village is the breeding colony, which is always offshore and away from annoying humans (except those on the seal swim, apparently!!). I jumped in and with all those layers I truly didn't feel freezing cold (the water temp was in the mid 60's, I'm told!) and I actually stayed in the water for a full hour!
We were told that the seals are very territorial on land, with both humans and other seals, but once they jump in the water, all of a sudden they are mellowed out and not at all aggressive. That seemed to be true. The seals would swim quite close and
Eating out in Kaikoura
I take my parents to the finest seafood restaurant in Kaikoura just look at me, perhaps hang out a bit, then glide off. For all their awkwardness on land, lumbering over rocks, in the water they are sleek and graceful. One was lying on its side with its fin in the air, and when I looked underwater with my mask, his big eyes were perhaps 2 feet from mine, just staring at me!
There was quite an ocean surge, and for someone new to ocean swimming it might have been scary, but I loved bouncing around in the waves-I felt like a seal!! I was able to get quite close to the rocky shore of the island, where quite a few seal pups were frolicking in the shallows-they have not yet passed their swimming test and aren't allowed in the ocean. It was unique to be watching the seals on land from my ocean perspective. The 3 rules the seal swim guides tell you are: stay low, don't stand on anything (it is threatening to the seals if you loom over them) and don't try to touch them. The whole experiece was a blast, and a really fun way to spend my birthday!!
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