Fabulous Newmans coach guide this morning - a couple of little stops along the way to be able to take some photos. Got a few piccies of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook, and also saw some fur seals (from very far away) at Knight's Point. He also gave a running commentary along the whole route, telling us what things were and the history of places and so on. He was really good so I have been really lucky with bus drivers so far. Shame I just can't take less buses! I will probably have clocked up about 3 days worth of travelling time by the end of my New Zealand adventure, urgh.
If I'm bored enough one evening, then I might even tot up how many days I've lost through travelling! If I don't meet any other nice people, then I might just do that one evening! I have taken 5 flights so far, been on far too many buses in NZ, and also spent a lot of time on the Adventure Tours bus in the Red Centre. I think half of those four days in the Red Centre were probably taken up by just getting around!

Arrived in Wanaka and it was actually really warm here today, yay! So, I just chilled out by Lake Wanaka in the sun, instead of dragging my tired little body off on some excursion or trip. By the time I got there anyways, most of the trips had already left, so I didn't have much of an option but to chill out. It was really nice to sit in the sun though, after having had slightly rubbish weather for the past few days. I think my legs had forgotten what the sun was like!

Did catch up with Penny briefly at the hostel, but the cinema was showing 'Burn After Reading' so she and Gareth went off to see that. I just hung out at the hostel, and looked at the lake from the massive windows they have there. The view was really quite amazing from the hostel alone, I didn't even need to go down by the waterfront! It did get quite chilly in the evening as well though, so I'm glad I could catch the view from inside.

Moving on to Christchurch tomorrow morning, which will be my third to last bus journey, yay!!

Have been ringing up about accommodation and tours and so on to do in my last few days, and so far have booked myself on a dolphin swimming trip in Akaroa on Sunday. Akaroa is an hour and a half away from Christchurch itself, so that means another 2 bus journeys unfortunately!! But they are only little ones, so I guess they don't really count (she says, trying to convince herself). I just hope I get to see and swim with the dolphins now! I had read somewhere that the dolphins were calving at the moment, but the lady I spoke to today said that they calve in December and January, so around now the mum dolphins will be with their calves. However, they keep themselves in a separate little pod away from the main pod, so we won't have to be wary of going near them.

I called about the seal swimming in Kaikoura as well, and will probably go on a late afternoon tour with them but it depends on if I can get myself on a Maori tour on the same day. Unfortunately, I've only got one full day in Kaikoura because of the bus times, so I'll have to try and pack quite a few things into one day! I'm also wondering whether I should leave the seal swimming and book myself on the Maori tour (which is a half day, but they don't seem to be in when I call) and also go whale watching.
I think I'll wait and see if the Maori tour people answer the phone, or try and get some more information from their website (when I can get to a internet terminal that actually works. I tried using the one at Purple Cow where I'm staying, but it threw me out after 20 minutes and I'd put money in for an hour!! It was also mega slow!) to see when the tours go and that will help me make up my mind. I don't want to miss out on any three of them, but I guess that I won't be able to do a Maori tour anywhere else at all, so that is my first choice to go on. Though I really would like to swim with seals, and go whale watching.....can someone stretch the day to make it 36 hours please?