Kia Ora!

Our week in Christchurch is nearly over - just taking in our last couple of days in NZ!

Since our last blog, we've uploaded the photos we had issues with & had a really nice week here in Christchurch.

We had a 5 hour drive from Queenstown to Christchurch - our last stop with Stray :( We made a few stops along the way, Lindis Pass & some cracking views of Mount Cook - the tallest of NZ's mountains - around 3600 meters! We were lucky as it's rare to see no cloud at the top of the Southern Alps & we got some great views over Lake Pukaki. We also stopped in a town called Geraldine - small market - small town!

In the evening we got a luxury roast chicken dinner! We ate with the stray guys & had our last drinks with the crew.

Our first day in Christchurch was spent washing & organising our week - the most time we've had to ourselves in 20 odd days!

We took a bus to Lyttleton the next day, a large working port - had really nice weather - the 7th day of sunshine in a row for Christchurch apparently! We had lunch outside the famous Time Ball Station overlooking the port - which is where a large ball is dropped at the top of it's tower at exactly 1pm NZ time which used to be for ships to set their clocks accurately to aid navigation.

In the afternoon we checked out Christchurch's botanical gardens - which are huge & really pretty - the rose garden will look amazing when it blooms in November. But there are lots of nice lakes & beautiful colours & fountains.

Next morning we got a shuttle to Kaikoura, it's name means 'meal of crayfish' because of the abundance of them there. It is where 2 oceans meet & create a ridge, which generates a huge amount of food & attracts a vast array of marine life. We stayed in a nice lodge with a spa pool & sauna with great views of the surrounding snow capped mountains.

We arrived in Kaikura around 11am & whilst walking along the beach & checking out the town we saw a Hector's Dolphin close in shore which was amazing - sorry Sam too quick to get a photo!

We booked a whale watching tour for the next morning, we were picked up close by our hostel & taken to our boat. The boat took us way out into the ocean where the water gets as deep as 2000m! The captain used sight, GPS & a 'hi-tech' device to listen for the sonar sounds that the whales generate in order to locate them. It took a while but our captain came up with the goods & we got really close to a Sperm Whale as it came up for air! It was unbelievable - by far the best wildlife experience we've had! The whale surfaced for around 5 minutes before diving back down to hunt for food - the best part as we got to see the whale arch it's back & flip it's huge tail out of the water - really cool! They can breathe for 1-2hrs underwater & have 2.5 tonnes of oil in their heads! Which is where they got there name - they were hunted for their oil in the 1800s, the oil was used for lighting & many products & people belived it was sperm in their heads originally!

We saw Albatross in the water & take flight - they are huge! Then on the way back to the harbour we saw seals swimming & having lunch! They eat octupus & throw them around to break them up before eating them! We also saw a baby seal jump out of the water.

After lunch we took a walk to the seal colony on the edge of the Kaikoura peninsula, a 2 hour round trip! But it was well worth it, the seals were all resting really close on the grass & rocks & we got some fantastic photos & really close to them!

Next day was our last in Kaikoura, we checked out & had lunch overlooking the beach, we took some walking tracks to the other side of the peninsula which was a 1.5hr round trip & we got some nice views. We took the shuttle back to Christchurch for our last few days in NZ.

Yesterday we took a bus to New Brighton, famous for it's pier. We got really lucky with the weather as the forecast wasn't great. We had a good few hours on New Brighton beach which is really nice, we had lunch on the beach & watched the surfers by the pier. We walked around the town & checked out the shops before catching a bus back to our hostel.

Which brings us up to today! The sun's just come out again so chilling for a day & a bit until our flight to Brisbane in the early hours of Tuesday morning - looking forward to Oz now!

Take care all - hope everyone is well

We'll write another blog before we leave Brisbane!

Speak soon, love Gaz & Hannah xxx