Hello!

I've just had the most amazing afternoon whale watching in Kaikoura..such an amazing experience..i was speachless...me! 

Will finish telling you about Oz first tho!  Spent our last 4 days in Melbourne.  Melbourne is really really cool!  The first day we got there i we really really sad and did the neighbours tour!  Honest tho we only did it cos it was free when we booked our other two tours, honest!  It was fun tho, we visited the studios and the locations for Erinsbrugh High and the coffee shop and stuff, then we went to Ramsey Street itself.  They were filming and we saw..wait for it..the legend that is Harold!  We also met one of the new people in it, think he plays Fraser.  He asked if we wanted his photo and we were like..who are you?!  He thought it was funny tho and we got his picture anyway..i'll have to start watching neighbours again when i get home!

After the tour we had a wander round Melbourne and went on a ferris wheel in Federation Square, the main meeting point in the city.  Its really cool but i'll have to just show you the pictures!  We went for a nice meal in a restaurant that night too cos it was the night before my birthday!  It was yummy.. much nicer than magi noodles!  We were really lucky cos we accidently ended up in Melbourne during the international comedy festival and there was loads going on in the city.  Our hostel had a free comedy night in the bar  but i have to say it was the worse comedy i've ever seen!  There was a really crap heckler who ended up trying to have a fight with one of the comedians!  We were just stood there wondering what happened to the polite York hecklers!  We had a good night anyway, saw my birthday in in true drunken style dancing some wierd kind of chicken dance in the hostel bar (people were looking at us funny so we decided to give them something to laugh at!).  We ended up drinking with the comedian who was nearly in the fight and he was actually really funny, i do think he was secretly writing our jokes down tho..he thought we were hilarious..laughing with not at can i add!!

So on my birthday feeling ever so slightly hungover we headed out on our Phillip Island daytrip.  We didnt realise that the first stop was a winery tho..not what we needed!!  We stopped at a wildlife park on the way and i stroked a wombat and fed the kangaroos.  Philip Island was really cool, stopped at a lovely beach and watched some people who can actually surf for a while, then we went to a look out and saw some dolphins in the distance.  We ended the day at the penguin parade, it was so so cute!!  You wait at a viewing platform on the beach and when it starts to get dark the tiny little fairy penguins come out of the sea to cross the beach to their nests.  There are some brave ones who go alone but most wait for each other and cross the beach in groups cos its safer then going alone.  They are so cute waddling across the beach as fast as they can and you can walk all the way up to the nests with them.   Its moulting season at the mo and some of them were really fattened up cos they wont leave their nests for 17 days.  There was one penguin tho (we like to call him chubs) who had taken it far too seriously! He was so fat the poor thing that he kept falling over and all the other penguins were just overtaking him..i swear he looked embarrased..poor chubs..he still hadnt made it to his nest when we had to get back on the bus!

We spent a day in Melbourne, had a wander through chinatown and the Fitzroy gardens.  Then we had a coffee in the sunshine at Fed square before heading off for a few hours in the botanical gardens and then a few drinks in St Kilda, a cool little seaside suburb.  Spent our last full day on the great ocean road.  It was stunning, made lots of little stop offs along the surf coast and then went koala spotting before lunch, saw loads off the cuddly lazy things in the wild!  Went for a rainforest walk which was really different to the walks we did further north..we had our photo taken in a tree!  The last stop off the day was Loch Ard gorge and the 12 apostles.  The 12 apostles were amazing.  I dont know how Fallon managed to convince me that this was a good idea but she did and i ended up going on a scenic helicopter ride over them..im glad she did tho cos tho i was a bit scared the views were amazing!  Made our last night in Australia a good one too.  Went to a few bars and after a tragic 10 minutes in some kind of gangster club (i kid you not!)  we ended up going to a rock and indie club till 7am..didnt stop dancing!  Our last day in Melbourne was interesting on one hours sleep but we still managed to make it to the Victoria markets before getting our flight. 

So we were sad to leave Oz but here we are in New Zealand!  Landed in Christchurch which is so unbelievably English..its like some comedy old English town or something..they go punting down the river (not that punting is a regular activity inh mexborough!)  Our first day in NZ was a complete write off..we slept..and it was very nice!!  The next day was cool tho.  My mum has friends in Christchurch and they took me and Fallon out for the day which was lovely.  Went up to a look out over the volcanoes and stuff and had coffe and scones at a little tea shop (i told ya!) .  Then we headed to a place called Sumner and had a little walk along the coast before heading into Christchurch.  We went to the cathedral, the museum, the arts centre, out for lunch at Dux de Lux (yummy..with actual nice wine not goon!), to the botanical gardens and finished the day off with a coffee by the river..such a nice day and what a treat!  Stayed at their house the day after and took their crazy dog walking.  They own a bar and i was forced to sing 3 times on the Karaoke..it was awful..for the people listening!  Fun tho! 

 Started our Kiwi Experience this morning and looks as tho its gonna be pretty awesom!  Got to Kaikora and went whale watching this afternoon.  Now this is gonna sound dramatic but it really was one of the most amazing experiences i've ever had!  They're just so majestic..i was speachless.  We were so lucky too.  Apparently you usual see one or two whales and we saw 4 different sperm whales and saw one of them twice!  I cant explain how amazing i thought it was.  They're so huge but so harmless looking!   We were so close to them just by the boat and everyone was just silent watching this amazing creature.. gorgeous mountains in the horizon and all you could hear was the whale!  We saw one just as it came up to the surface so we spent 10 minutes watching it before it took one last huge breath before it dove down into the depths of the ocean again!  Its amazing how long they hold there breath and how deep they can dive.  When thay dive down and flip there tail in the air you really get an impression of how big they are..bigger than our boat.. i'm still in awe i think!  I sound like an arse dont i..oh well..we all know im a geek really anyway!  You know that sceen on blue planet adverts with the whale flipping its tail out the ocean.. i saw it in real life eeep!

Going to Nelson tomora, will probably go walking in the Abel Tasmen National park..so much cool stuff coming up. 

Missing everyone lots

love love love