Where can I start - it has been an action packed few days! I will try to remember everything we have crammed in, but it will be hard! We left Wellington on Saturday and flew to Christchurch. Sounds extravagant but it was actually cheaper (and loads quicker!) than getting the ferry and the bus. We stayed in Christchurch overnight, and after a quick browse around the market in the morning, set off for the airport again where we collected Nicola's boyfriend Loz who is out to join us for a holiday for a couple of weeks. We also picked up our new form of transport - a green "station wagon" affectionately known as "the car". We have decided to drive ourselves around for the rest of the time we're in New Zealand and have created an ambitious itinerary to fit everything in! In line with said ambitious itinerary, as soon as we got the car we zoomed off in the direction of our first stop, Kaikoura in the North East of the South Island, home of whale and dolphin watching. On the way we wanted to stop at the hot springs at Hanmer, but unfortunately it rained all the way there so we decided to give it a miss! All the rain wasn't boding terribly well for our plans for the next few days, but it seemed to clear up a bit when we actually arrived in Kaikoura, so we went to bed feeling at least a little bit hopeful! We got up to a beautiful morning on Monday, so set off full of optimism for our first activity - a whale watching boat trip. Unfortunately, all hopes were dashed when we arrived at the centre and our trip had been cancelled due to high winds and rough seas! Gutted, we all thought we had the perfect day! This was at 9am, and they told us there was space on the 12.15 trip, and about a 20% chance that it would sail, so we booked on to that one just in case. To pass the time, we decided to drive out to Point Kean to see the seal colony (wildlife galore!). When we got there, we were all so busy gazing at the seals on a rock just off the coast that we didn't notice the gigantic monster sat on the wall right next to the car! I walked right up to it - I must have been in a daze, thinking it was a rock or something! Loz pointed it out, I turned around and it looked right at me and huffed at me - I nearly jumped out my skin! It was a large seal, definitely not someone you'd pick a fight with! There were loads of them lying on the rocks and the grass surrounding the car park, and provided you don't go too close they're not bothered at all, so we could see them right up close. We also climbed up the cliff and went for a cliff top walk - spectacular views of the Kaikoura peninsula. Aside from the amazing wildlife, it really is a very pretty area. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch and headed back to the whale watch centre, and to our great relief, the 12.15 was sailing! The winds had died down, and whilst there was a serious sea-sickness warning still in place, it was safe to go! I think excitement kept me from feeling sick as we bounced across the sea, so that was a relief! After about 45 minutes of dashing back and forth across the sea at every suggestion of a whale we finally came across what we were looking for - a giant sperm whale known to the crew as Saddleback. It was just floating there in the sea, looking a bit like a rusty submarine really. It wasn't as big as I thought it would look, but maybe that was because we were keeping our distance! After about 5 minutes of bobbing around on the surface he dived, and that was the best bit, when we got to see the tail come out of the water in the typical whale watching image! It was amazing, and after that we saw another! Can't actually believe I saw a real live whale, out in the sea! Like the seals, so long as you don't go too close, they don't seem bothered at all, and the crew are used to finding them and seeing them all - Saddleback has been a regular on the scene for about 18 years! On the way back from the whale watching tour we caught sight of a pod of dusky dolphins, which just got us all excited about the next days activity..... So the next morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 4.45am (not much will entreat me to be out of bed at that hour, but we were told it was the best time to go!) and by 5.30 were down at the Dolphin Encounter centre, from where we were to do our Dolphin Swim. Going out at that time of the morning was amazing, we saw the most spectacular sunrise. Plus, at that time of the day the dolphins have just come in from hunting, so they've got full bellies and lots of energy and seem to like being entertained by these funny swimming things! We found our first pod after only about 20 minutes on the boat, and our guide was very matter-of-fact - "go on then, get in!". At first I couldn't quite breathe (its been a long time since I used a snorkel!) and the first time I saw a dolphin streaking under water I nearly choked! It took me a while to relax but after that it was so amazing, we saw dusky and common dolphins and there were hundreds of them. Everywhere you looked there were dolphins - swimming round you, under you, straight at you! We had an underwater camera and I tried to get some photos, will have to see how those come out! We went in five or six times, and everytime we saw loads of them. If you swim in a circle they swim round you, apparently this is a good way to entertain them. We were swimming with them for at least 2 hours and every minute of it was amazing - by far the best thing we've done on this trip and quite possibly the most amazing thing I have ever done! To see so many of them, in the wild, and up so close was just fabulous. After our bright and early start we decided to get straight on the road, as we had a long drive to the Abel Tasman national park, on the other side of the Island. We were staying at Old McDonald's Farm in Marahau - and yes, he does have a cow, a sheep, a chicken and a dog. He even has a llama! It was a very cute place, but a little isolated - a 25 minute walk through the pitch black to the actual town, and there wasn't much there if you did go! We ended up having a very early night indeed - but at least it meant lots of energy for yet another day's activity!! The next day (think I'm up to wednesday now) was sea-kayaking in the National Park. We went for the full day extravaganza (may have been unwise given its probably been 10 years since I was last in a kayak!). It involved an 18 kilometre kayak all along the coast of the park, and it was beautiful. The weather seemed a little downcast in the morning, but it picked up at lunchtime, and once again the sun shone for us. We paddled along the coast, and out to some of the islands, even out to where the seals live (these thankfully were a good deal smaller than the monster ones!). At one point we were so busy looking at the seals that Nicola and Loz managed to get stuck on a rock - the quick action of our guide Gloria managed to get us out of that one! It was a great day, despite the ache in my arms and the blisters on my thumbs, and a really good way to see the park. And of course, yet more wildlife!! So after all that, we are, as I'm sure you can imagine, pretty worn out and nigh on bankrupt! But its been worth it, every penny! We've really enjoyed these last few days, and the weather held out for us the whole way which was brilliant. We had a whole day driving down the West Coast today, and its rained quite a lot here (yet another side trip to Buller Gorge ruined, but we did manage to get out at Pancake Rocks!) but it was good while we needed it and I'm so pleased! New Zealand is such an amazing place - yesterday we were kayaking along beaches and tropical looking rainforests, and tomorrow we're heading to a glacier.....need I say more?? Love from a very happy Caroline! x