The day started very early... first with some texts of an emergency situation at home (which possibly means cutting my trip short), then traffic noise, then train noise, then the snoring. Five of the dorm mates had left, but of the three that remained, one was the snorer!
After eating a quick breakfast in the malodorous kitchen, I packed up my stuff, loitered about the hostel for a while, then headed out to catch my bus at 1 pm. It was 15 minutes late. I haven't had much luck with the transportation so far but at least I didn't have a connection. The drive to Blenheim was very lovely. We passed through mountains and vineyards.
The gorgeous countryside
The train crossings didn't have gates, just flashing lights.... so you had better be paying attention!
The bus driver, Graham, gave an excellent tour, as well as a thorough description of all the features of the nice, large bus... including giving such helpful tips as how to lean your chair back but to keep in mind that you are taking up someone else's space when you do. It would be nice to have that announcement on airplanes with their tiny seats! The bus was also equipped with shoulder seatbelts and overhead control panels for the airco and lights.
All in all, I found the bus drivers to be exceptional. While waiting at the bus stop, they would take the time to hunt down the passengers on their roster, making sure they did their best to make sure the passengers got on the correct bus.
About 30 minutes later, I arrived at the Blenheim train station and sat in the visitor center for a couple hours. Regan was flying into the small local airport at around 5pm and being picked up by his brother, and they were then going to swing by and get me. I wanted to take a slightly later bus but the next one didn't get in until 6:30pm.
Casey (Regan's brother) dropped us of at their parents' home... a beautiful, large place with stunning gardens. They were away for the weekend, having taken the "caravan" down to a large show somewhere in the south. We dropped off our stuff, then took their car to the store to buy a few groceries. We then headed to Casey's for an evening BBQ.
Chocolate with kiwi... how much more "New Zealand" can you get??
KAIKOURA (Day 13)
The weather looked bright and clear outside, a nice change from the overcast chilly day before. We went down to a small local cafe, Raupo, and I got an omelette.
My large meal
While we were eating, Regan called the dolphin swimming company to make a reservation. Unfortunately there were booked solid for the next two weeks. If we liked, we could get on the waiting list for tomorrow, but the weather was supposed to be bad and the boat might not even go out. Monday full up... Tuesday full up.... oh wait... there were suddenly two cancellations this morning for an afternoon spot today. Would we like them? Uh YES. We had to be down in Kaikoura in a couple hours but that wasn't going to be a problem.
We started the drive down, passing numerous vineyards and lovely, dry grassy hills. Regan then realized we should probably tank up... quickly! So we looked for a gas station but, town past town, there wasn't one. Eventually we found a totally automated filling station. It took a bit of figuring out, since one didn't pay at the pump, but eventually we got some fuel and were again on our way.
The above-ground fuel tank
Since we had plenty of time, we first stopped at The Store, in Kekerengu, and got a slice of Irish whiskey cake while we sat overlooking the sea. The seagulls were quite envious!
Mmmmm..... whiiiiiisky caaaaake.
Flying in for a (hopeful) crumb or two
We took a short stroll on the beach. Instead of sand, it was rocks and a bit difficult to walk on... unless you are Kiwi in which case your feet are impervious to anything. True Hobbit feet! I cleverly managed to carve a nice piece of skin out on my shin on a sharp piece of driftwood. It didn't feel so bad at the time, but it was going to make itself well-known when I put on the wet, salty wetsuit a bit later.
Feet impervious to everything!
Creepy rock: "Here lies a dead penguin found here"
A view directly "home" towards Colorado
The drive continued to get more and more beautiful, lined with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other. We stopped at Ohau Stream, a supposed baby seal nursery. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of year for the pups to be there, but we still had a nice walk through the thick vegetation to the waterfall where they sometimes hang out.
No seal pups but still lovely
I got my seal "fix" a short way down the road at least, at the Ohau Point Lookout. The rocks were simply covered with them! New Zealand Fur Seals are unique to New Zealand and are called Kekeno by the Maori. They used to be drastically hunted (both by natives and Europeans) for food and skins. They were almost completely wiped out until hunting was banned in 1894. They are now making a comeback but it is estimated that their current population is still only 10-20% of what it once was.
They were quite enjoyable to watch... playing, swimming, arguing, and lounging on rocks.
How the heck do they get up there with those tiny flippers?!
Oh my gosh.... I am just sooooooo tired!
Nice lazy day
This is the molting season, when the animals get new coats (note the seal on the far right).
The pups are born during the summer (December/January).
Oooh that's cold! Water rushes in on a bunch of playing pups.
The possible captions for this one are countless!
Eventually it was time to get going. So we drove along the beautiful, scenic coast to Kaikoura. Upon arriving at the Dolphin Encounter desk, we checked in. We were told that weather conditions were not only exceptional, they were by far the best conditions they had ever seen... the best EVER! The sun was shining; the swells were minimal, and huge pods of dolphins had been spotted. We suited up and a bus brought us out to our boat, the Delphinidae, at South Bay.
Suited up and ready to go!
The Dusky Dolphin is a relatively small dolphin. They are social (the females are 'trollops' and will mate with up to five different males in just a matter of minutes) and swim in enormous pods at different times of the year. Apparently this area is also quite special. Not too far off the coast is an incredibly deep trench. During the night, the warm top waters sink, bringing up tons of fish and other sea creatures from the bottom that the dolphins then feed on at the surface. During the day, this food source sinks back down to the depths, and the dolphins just hang out and get entertained by tourists until they can eat again at night.
The tour was split into two groups: those who were going to swim with the dolphins got the bottom deck, while those who just observed stayed out of the way on the top deck. All totaled, we made five stops. Each time the boat horn would blow, we would jump into the water off the back of the boat, then swim around until the dolphins moved on. When we'd hear the boat horn again, we'd load back up and then drive to where the pod had moved to. Then repeat.
The stunning setting
The dolphins usually stayed with us for about 10 minutes before moving on. We were encouraged to be as "entertaining" for them as possible. This included making a variety of noises. I chose to simply call "here, kitty kitty"... which undoubtedly sounded quite ridiculous though the snorkel. I think the sounds were more meant to entertain the people watching from the boat than the dolphins!
The dolphins made lots of their own sounds too. You could definitely hear short little pops, clicks and calls as they swam by. They would also definitely interact with you, swimming quick circles around you and coming SO close to you that they almost hit you. Then all of a sudden, they would all just vanish, and we would return to the boat to follow them again.
Eventually it was time to head back to shore. We stripped out of our wetsuits and there were hoses that pumped warm water at the back of the boat. It was a total blessing for me because I was frozen solid. My wetsuit wasn't tight enough (I couldn't get a smaller one because this was already not tall enough) so I kept getting lots of fresh, cold ocean current washing up my legs each time I swam. We put on dry clothes then went to the front of the boat where we could watch and take pictures of the dolphins doing their incredible acrobatics.
Then the stunts really started to get crazy!
A seal decides to play among the dolphins.
When we got back to the boat launch, they pulled the boat right up onto a large trailer. We transferred to a bus that drove us back to the dolphin center.
The boat was driven onto a trailer and pulled right up out of the water.
We grabbed a fruit smoothie and sat on the beach a bit... recovering. I had the lovely pleasure of suddenly having my sinuses drain against their will, releasing at least a cupful of seawater. So charming!
A Norfolk Pine
A view down the beach
It was a beautiful drive back... eventually pulling away from the coast, into rolling hills and gradually past vineyards. We stopped and got some Domino's pizza. Unfortunately, the "rubenesque" epidemic in the States seems to have reached here as well. We sat on the back porch of his parents' place, listening to ducks in the small stream that ran past, eating pizza, and drinking some local Gewurztraminer.
