Monday 11th January 2010

Early start this morning as we were getting pick up by Kiwi Experience at 07.30am so we were up by 6.15am finished our packing and had just enough time to have a coffee before the bus picked us up. Destination Kiakoura!!!

The journey only took around 3 hours with a half an hour meal break so not too long at all. While on the bus we got our activities booked for the next few days whale watching this afternoon and dolphin swimming in the morning we were not too happy through as it's at 05.30am as you all know we are not the best morning people!! So we are very excited but dreading the early morning.

Before we were dropped off at the hostel we were taken to a look out point to look at the views of Kiakoura they were stunning such a contrast in colours. We then checked into our hostel got sorted and walked to the whale way station (I know how cheesy!!) for our tour stopping on the way to pay for the dolphin swim.

We had a quick bite to eat before we went out on the boat as we were actually early for a change so we had half an hour to kill before we went out. We were then transported by bus to the dock to board the boat. We were really lucky today as we got to see 4 sperm whales as on a normal day we were told you only on average see two. I thought we were going to see killer whales for some reasons so I was a little disappointed that they weren't killer whales but it was still amazing. The sperm whale is absolutely massive the ones we saw were about 18 meters in size and they were all males the females don't live here as it too cold and they don't have enough blubber to keep them warm. They really don't do a lot just spray lots of water and the most exciting bit is when they are about to go back under water and they flick there tales up in the air. We did find out that the record for the longest time a sperm whale has been under water without surfacing is 2 hours and 17 minutes and the deepest recorded depth a sperm whale has been down to is 3000 meters (It must have been bloody cold down there!!).

Once we got back into town we used the internet before going to the supermarket and then back to the hostel to cook sausage and mash (So I got to kill my craving in one I got my mash potatoes and the peas I've also been craving) so it was all good. We then chilled at the backpackers before getting an early night ready for our mega early start in the morning.

Tuesday 12th January 2010, Kiakoura

Well after our lovely early night last night it was a very early but wasted start! The alarm went off at 4:45am!!! It was not even light! Caroline got up pretty much straight away, I stayed put until about 5am! And what was this early start for I hear you ask, well we were meant to be swimming with dolphins!!!

When we booked we were told to ring at 5:15am to make sure it was going ahead, so after dressing we ventured outside to discover it was raining, it was not looking good!!

Caroline rang up too be told that they weren't sure yet and too ring back in 10 minutes as the captain was out there at the moment assessing the situation. So 10 minutes later we rang back to be told that they would be going but strong swimmers only and there was still a possibility it would be cancelled. We decided to take a walk around to the office and have a chat with them. Once at the office we were told that they were going out but as before it was strong swimmers only and that there was a pretty strong chance of sea sickness. Now the swimming part wasn't a problem but what we weren't happy with was the fact that they were saying that there was a rather large swell which means big waves so therefore no guarantee of actually seeing the dolphins jumping. Also we were concerned that we would be too busy swimming against the waves to actually see the dolphins. So basically we made the decision to cancel and to be put on the waiting list. Our thinking is also, we are coming back to Kaikoura so we could do it then and also we can swim with dolphins in the Bay of Islands as well. A bit disappointing but hopefully there will be another chance to swim with the acrobatic dusky dolphins.

So after all this we arrived back at our hostel just after 6am and as there wasn't a lot else to do at this time we went back to bed!!

Well unintentionally I ended up sleeping in till 11:45am! Whoops! Caroline had got up a bit earlier to go and ring Rach. Oh well never mind! Once we were up we were meant to be going Seal swimming but that was also cancelled-not a good day for marine swimming but we've re-booked for tomorrow, so fingers crossed!

Once we had showered we headed out for a walk around the peninsula of Kaikoura. First stop though was food. We had lunch at The Dolphin Encounter Café which was lovely before heading out for our 3 hour walk. The total walk was 12 km and it was beautiful!!!

Kaikoura is the only place in New Zealand to be surrounded by mountains and the ocean. The mountain ranges are called The Seaward Kaikoura Range and they appear at times to be coming straight out of the sea. Whilst we were there they also had snow on them so therefore now being snow capped mountains. So we may not be in the snow in England but at least we have now seen snow for this year!

The reason for the phenomenal marine life in Kaikoura is to do with the fact that New Zealand is positioned at the eastern edge of the Indo-Australian continental shelf. Just out to sea from Kaikoura, the continental shelf slopes gradually to a depth of 100 meters, then plunges to a depth of almost 1,000 meters. Warm and cold currents converge here and a southerly current is constantly striking the continental shelf. These conditions cause nutrients to rise up from the seafloor. When these nutrients reach a depth where light can penetrate, they become useful for plant life that live in the sea. The plants feed small marine animals, who, in turn, are food for large marine mammals.

Anyway the walk. It started in the town and basically did a big loop from one side of the town over to the other side and then back round. The first 4.5km were all on flat ground along the coastal road eventually walking round to Keal point which is where a seal colony lives. When we first arrived there were 2 basking in the sun on rocks and then 1 rather large male seal blocking the path, but on taking the other route round we found 2 hiding in the bushes. These 2 then decided it was time for a swim so we got too watch them move over land and into the sea. There pretty slow on land but once in the water they really are very agile and move pretty fast and quite beautiful too watch. Later on the big male also decided on a swim as well. Seals can be pretty aggressive if you get between them and the sea or go to close to them but if you give them enough room there pretty cool sweet animals. These seals are the New Zealand Fur Seals.

From here it was up a big hill where we got some fairly amazing views over the bay and then the next 4km or so were all up on the cliff top. We could have walked down into Whale Bay but as we could see it all from above we decided that really what was the point as we'd only have to come back up the same way we went down! The views all around the coast were beautiful. Eventually we made it into South Bay and then from there to get back into Kaikoura we had to walk back over another hill, through some forest and then back down a large set of steps back onto the main Esplanade.

Once back in Kaikoura we had a coffee at the hostel before walking into the town to use the internet and pick up supplies for dinner. Because we had rather a lot of frozen peas left from last night we decided to do a variation on Ham and Pea Tagliatelle. The variation being because we couldn't quite remember how the sauce was composed. So Mum or Dad if you can remember can you please e-mail one of us the recipe, ready for next time! So we in the end bought a creamy garlic sauce and added peas, ham and an onion to make a lovely pasta dinner!!!

I forgot to tell you that as well as the amazing marine life we also saw our first New Zealand sheep and cows today! I know very exciting, and you'll also be glad to hear that thankfully the cows were behind a fence and not in the field with me!!

Wednesday 13th January 2010

This morning we once we had got sorted and had breakfast we made our way down to the seal swim shop both very excited about swimming with the seals. We were a bit apprehensive prior to going that the seals would be aggressive. However last night we read that the only reason that seals are aggressive when on land is one they are very territorial animals and secondly as when they are land humans tower other them this makes them feel threatened but when you are in the water with them you are at there level therefore they don't feel as threatened.

Once we got to the shop we were kitted out with very thick wetsuits which we were very glad of as we were dreading getting in the water it was going to be freezing!!! It was then onto a bus where we were driven about 15 minutes out of town to get a speed boat out to the seal colony. We were given a safety talk on the way out about not touching the seals and how to interact with them. It was time to get in the water and even with the wetsuits on it was bloody freezing!!! But the guide told us after two minutes the wetsuits would do there job and it would get warmer thank god he was right!!

The actual swim was amazing the seals are very inquisitive and get really close to you. One was playing with me for about 5 minutes he kept swimming off and them coming back circling me it was absolutely awesome unfortunately Suz wasn't near me at this point but she got some close encounters too. They can swim so fast they always look so slow on land but this is not the case at all. The hour and half we were out there went so fast and when it was time to go back we didn't want to leave the guide eventually said if we didn't get back in the boat he'd go without us whoops!!! It was also great that we were swimming around the actual seal colony on the rocks as we got to see the dominant males, the mothers and the babies who were only a few weeks old and sooooooo cute!!!

Once we got back to the shop we were all in desperate need of a hot shower we were all very cold by then. So we had a quick shower, before going back to the hostel to get some lunch. This afternoon as it was quite late anyway we had a proper shower after lunch with a hair wash etc before packing our bags for leaving early tomorrow.

Tonight we went to the cinema which was really nice as we haven't been since we've been away. We went to see one of the saddest movies i've seen in a long time the whole cinema was crying by the interval!! It was called My Sisters keeper Suzie and I have both read the book by Jodi Piccot and that made us cry so we didn't have a hope in hell of not crying at the film. It was really good though and they have made the film very well. After the cinema we went back to the hostel rang Mum and had a few beers before heading to bed.