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For those of you who don't already know our plans changed mainly due to being a little bit lovesick! We couldn't believe it either. So now we are travelling New Zealand for 3 weeks, Fiji for a week, then its back to Australia til New Year and then our South America trip before flying home at the end of Jan. A good plan! So im currently in New Zealand. We had another night flight to get here and I managed to fall asleep before the plane had even taken off. When the plane was descending we hit a lot of turbulance and it was quiet scary! I think we even had to circle the airport becaue the plane wasn't stable enough to land first time.
We arrived at our hostel around 2am and it was so nice. It was almost more like a BnB than a hostel. It was also a nice surprise to have a 4 bed dorm to ourselves although it was absolutly freezing and I slept with leggings and a jumper on! We had somehow both managed to pick up a cold/flu whilst in Australia so spent the whole of the following day in bed. Feeling better the next day I went for a awalk around Christchurch and it reminded me so much of towns in England. It was lovely. I had to invest in some new clothes whilest out to try and keep me warm over the next couple of weeks and as I trreat because I'd been poorly sick. I also enjoyed a big mug of hot choc (with marshmallow obviously) to try and warm me up. That was one good thing about being cold. Another good thing about it being cold is that we have been able to eat soup and have both discovered a love for pumpkin soup. There was more exploring of Christchurch the next day and spent a little while in the botanical gardens which again were lovely.
On friday we started our trip around the south island. Our first leg was to Kailoura.When we arrived there we pulled up for an amazing view over the peninsula. It was lovely seeing the town below and the surrounding mountains. We had been told that the town was reknown for its fish and chips so how could we refuse. The fish was lovely and it seems the seaguls enjoy it too. I had literally just finished eating and put dow my knife and fork when a greedy seagull flew down and took off with the remains of my fish. When they came back for more obviouly we screamed and ran causing more fuss than the seaguls themselves.
We were booked on a trip to go whale watching in the afternoon. We were looking for sperm whales which are the biggest of the toothed whales and are the size of 4 elephants. Shouldn't be too hard to spot. We got on a very fast boat and were repeatedly warned about being seasick. Everytime that was mentioned Louise would cast a glance at me! We travelled out for about 20min when we had our first sighting. We weren't allowed to be standing on the boat when it was travelling but had to be seated so as soon as it stopped everyone jumped up and literally pushed anyone out of the way to get outside. By the time I was stood up the whale had already swam back down and we all missed it. Off we went on the hunt again. We managed to see 5 whales over the trip and they were huge. They looked like submarines in the water. It was easy to spot them as they would blow spray up about every 15 seconds. The best part was when they dived back down and arched their backs and their tail flipped out of the water. We were so close to them, about 10m away so got a great view. After they dived back down the pressure that they exert on the surface causes the water to become calm and still. We also saw a couple of albertroses which have a wing span of upto 3m. We then spent the night in another hostel! Oh its all fun.
Nelson was our next port of call and it was quiet a long day travelling there. e stopped on the way though so that we could see the seal colonies around the coast. The first seals we saw were at Ohau Point where they were just on the rocks but we stopped a little further up the road at Lake Ohau Waterfall. We followed the track up to the waterfall and found lots of seals playing there, it was soo cute. We weren't sure if there would be any there and somehow me and Lou were leading the way. We walked past a tree and there was one all curled up inside looking cute. It was really nice to see them there rather than just sitting blubbering away in the sun on the rocks.
Arriving in Nelson we took the walk to the centre point of New Zealand (although apparently its not actually there). Obviously we didn't know where we were going and went the wrong way again. It made sense to us to follow the family in front of us., they would obviously be going there and know the way. By following them we did have a lovely walk but it wasn't to where we were wanting to go. We had to go back to the hosel and ask for directions in the end. The first 'helpful' barmaid told us to follow the guy infront who had just left as she'd just given him instructions. Great help. Luckily another barmaid gave us a map and directions. It was a good job too because the guy infront was a fast walker! The centre point is typically at the top of a big hill. Apparently the spot at the bottom is where rugby was first played in New Zealand. We took the trek up to the top and it was worth it, it was a pretty good view.
- comments
jackie Don't worry your not the only one who is love sick lol. I am really surprised you weren't seasick you didn't inherit that from your mum and grandparents then. Sounds fantastic I hope you have taken some nice pictures of the waterfalls and mountains in New Zealand I always think they are beautiful and magnificent crazy I know!! The others just don't get it lol. Sounds as if you are having great time I 'm now waiting to read about your skydiving and the other thing you did which to be honest you must be half mad to even try but I guess thats just my age I would probably have done it at your age. You really should have brought a sat nav and took it with you then set it to where you wanted to go and then you would never have got lost lol. Keep up with the blogs they are very entertaining. Take good care love jackie xxx
Cathy I have loved reading this and I am feeling quite envious. How delightful it must have been to see the seals in there own environment and especially the one curled up in the tree. You must be in overload with all the wonderful things you are seeing. Take care love you ----Nana