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The flight to Christchurch went without a hitch and we got an early indicator of the scenery ahead just as we began flying over it as a vast mountain range with snowy peaks loomed underneath us. The driver of our shuttle bus to the hostel issued the NZ catchphrase 'sweet as' within about 30 seconds of talking and australia was very obviously behind us. This was also demonstrated in the temperature, NZ is currently in the depths of winter and the lack of warm clothes in my bag suddenly sprung to mind. We went for a wander around the city and arriving on Manchester street with hoods up and many layers on seemed quite apt. Straight off we decided to do an activity the next day and swimming with dolphins seemed to tower above the other options. We had to take a scenic tour bus to the coastal location, where we stopped off at an unfortunately unfascinating rock museum before stopping at a cafe on a hill top with a pretty spectacular view (as ever photos should appear soon), the world suddenly seemed a very small place as a man from hyde was working there and we also met a bloke who used to work in stalybridge who was a sale sharks fan! We arrived at our destination (a maori name that deserts me), and were kitted out with thick wet suits and other necessary equipment, which based on the photos you'll see, taz and i quite enjoyed ourselves in. A group of about 12 of us were heading out on the boat in quite blustery conditions and it was wicked just to be standing at the front with the bitter cold wind hitting our face. It was a different story though with the first sighting of the dolphins, i think i let out a squeal my mum would be proud of. The specific dolphins in this area are the smallest and rarest in the world (fully grown about a metre). The first few dolphins we saw weren't interested in us and quickly departed but soon we identified a group who were a little curious and we hopped in the water to get up close. It was absolutely brilliant, i mean they were swimming around us within a couple of metres. We got back to the hostel later and spent a quiet night in the town. Wednesday brought a long lie in and a bit of a session in a gym i'd found but we were mainly relaxing in anticipation of a hectic few days on the kiwi bus. We got on Thursday morning with Westport our destination and on the way we stopped off at an adventure farm or something and Taz did some quad biking with me doing a similar masculine activity ehem! Westport proved to be a tiny little town so another quiet night ensued. The following day involved quite a bit of driving with a coastal walk and a viewing of some seal colonies thrown in the middle. We were heading to the Pua pub (pronounced 'poo') next to lake matapua. This pub is famed for having the oldest publican in NZ in charge, good old les was 83 years old and sometime in the night broke a mirror which can't be a good thing! A fancy dress party with the theme bin bags was the entertainment for the night which waas bloody brilliant. Have had to steam through this last bit as i'm just off to go kayaking, somehilarious pictures will be up soon, keep your eyes peeled!
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