27th

So today we bid farewell to the North Island and boarded our ferry across to Picton on the South Island. The ferry was pretty uneventful even though it took 3 hours 20 minutes! We didn't realise it would be that long. Thankfully they provided free entertainment in the form of films so we watched 'Happy Feet' and 'Make It Happen'. Happy to say Mark made it across without emptying the contents of his stomach, much to the fellow passengers and my delight!! He owes all this to "Sheea Liigs" as it's know locally, or to the rest of us "Sea Legs"(travel sickness tablets)! Great scenery though whilst crossing the Cook Strait and due to the rain we several amazing rainbows.

So after reaching terra firma we found a campsite nearby and rested after our epic sea journey, collecting our thoughts on what route to take around the island. The weather at the moment is horrendous, the rain actually woke me up last night, so instead of the planned journey up to the Abel Tasman National Park and doing some walking along the Queen Charlotte track we have decided to head south towards Kaikoura where we hope to do some dolphin/whale spotting.....watch this space!

28th

Along the route to Kaikoura we spotted some New Zealand Fur Seals along the road, much like the seal colony on the Big Sur, so we made a quick stop to watch them for a while. They are much smaller than the elephant seals in the US and the babies seemed tiny even though they are now a few weeks old! At the moment they are dotted along the rocks and beach just below the road, however, in rough weather and storms they have been known to come up onto the roadside for some shelter! I'm not sure who would be in more danger, the seals from getting hit by cars, or people veering into the sea wondering if that was really a seal they just saw along the road!

Anywho..we reached Kaikoura and headed towards the towns local I-Site (which has become like mecca to us!!) to inquire about some accommodation and whale/dolphin related activities. We decided to go for the Whale Watch Boat trip because it was the cheapest and you see more for your money, however there were various activities to choose from including a helicopter or plane ride over the whales (30min trip) or swimming or kayaking with dolphins or fur seals. The boat trip hadn't run since saturday 25th due to bad weather but we booked up for the next available trip which was 7:15am next day (Thursday) and kept everything crossed that it would go ahead.

With the early start in mind we headed to the campsite and had early dinner of Fajitas (this time we stuck to the faithful Old El Paso kit!!) watched a film on the Archos and had an early night.

29th

Bright and early this morning (5:50am to be precise!!) the alarm rang and we hopped out of bed on the dot! If you believe that you'll believe anything! No we forced ourselves up after the snooze alarm sounded and somehow managed to dress ourselves and have some toast and sink a couple of Sheea Liigs (just to be safe!) before heading to the Whale Watch HQ bang on time. Thankfully the tour was going ahead although they warned us that the sea would be choppy, we'd be ok as we'd had our sea legs! So after boarding the vessel for our 2 hour 30 minute tour we soon found ourselves at sea and a few minutes into the trip we were surrounded by a pod of 100 or so Dusky Dolphins. It was amazing to see so many dolphins all together like that (grandad you'd have loved it!!) and we watched them zip around each other and under the boat for 10 minutes or so, all whilst trying to take a good picture of them. Trying being the operative word..those little b*****s are fast! I could have stayed there all day watching them but reluctantly we had to press on in search of the mighty Sperm Whale that we hoped to find.

Well they weren't kidding when they said the sea was choppy and soon Mark was looking a little 'green' for where! To be fair he wasn't the only one and I was glad of the engine breaks when the captain was using the hydrophone to 'listen' for the whales so I could get some fresh air. As the darn whale kept moving (!!) we had to venture further and further out to sea to track him which didn't help the sea sickness victims and soon Mark wasn't the only one clutching a 'sick catcher' to his face! Deep breaths....focus on the horizon (apparently to make you think you are on land! Hello...what about the giant waves throwing me around the boat??!?!?!).

So after a few fur seals chilling in the swell and a couple of albatross (can't remember which species but unfortunately not the wandering kind!) the announcement came that we could only look for another 5 minutes before we would have to head back to land. Luckily the tour we went with offer an 80% refund if you don't spot any whales but we both really wanted to see one especially after the 'trouble' Marks been through for the last 2 hours! With minutes to spare we were granted our wish and good ole cap' had spotted a sperm whale not too far away.

Abiding by Marine Law we kept 50 metres away but still had a wonderful view of the big old creature from the deep. When a whale is surfaced we only get to see about 2/3 of the animals length which is basically most of his head and back but it still looked big considering how far away we were! We watched him in awe breathing through his blowhole before he dove down into the deep water for another feed, spending up to 2 hours down there so good luck to the next tour out here!! The whole experience was over pretty quickly but it was still well worth it. It was just unfortunate for us that we only managed to spot a whale just before the time was up otherwise we would have had more time with him or maybe even managed to watch another one surface aswel.

It will come as no shock to say that Mark was happy when we were back on dry land and soon we were heading our of Kaikoura on our way south towards Christchurch where we will pick up Arthurs Pass towards Greymouth where we will head down the West coast.

Ta ta for now A & M xx