Hey everyone,

We are back in Kaikoura on our way north before we head to the North Island. Back in Queenstown, I decided to try out some hang gliding from some of the local hills. By the time we had all reached the launch the wind was coming down the hill rather than up it, so unfortunately we were unable to take off. As there were no other sites suitable for hang gliding (and it was our last day) we were offered paragliding instead at a different site. I decided to go for it anyway, and had a pretty cool tandem flight. I was a little disappointed I didn't get to hang glide, but there are plenty other places I can try. And next time I'll bring my own paraglider and fly for free!

After leaving Queenstown we headed back to Christchurch for the night, and this morning left for Kaikoura. We didn't have long to relax after arriving as we were booked to go swimming with the Dusky Dolphins! We got all kitted out in wetsuits and flippers and were watching a video briefing when a guy came in to tell us we were heading straight out as a pod of Killer Whales were heading south to where the dolphins would be. We wanted to get to the dolphins before they were scared off!

After a fairly bumpy ride over choppy seas we caught up with the dolphins. There were about 400 of them all swimming, jumping and generally playing around in the water. We jumped in with our snorkels and masks and made noise to attract them over. The sea was clean but quite murky, and the dolphins would shoot by you without warning. It was really cool. We kept moving to ensure we had the best encounters with them. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) we didn't see any of the Killer Whales while we were in the water. On the way back, about 5 people got quite seasick and started blowing chunks into buckets! Sian included... (although very quietly, and in a lady-like fashion I might add).

Tomorrow we are heading to Picton to catch the ferry over to Wellington to start our North Island adventure. We've got 11 nights to cross to Auckland and fit in all the cool stuff on the way before we hit our 4th country, Fiji!

Fin and Sian