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Day 18.
After a long, boring day of driving the day before and being a day ahead of our plan, we decided we both deserved a little treat so awoke early and drove to Hanmer Springs. It was also a handy opportunity to have a wash after a few wet days on the road feeling (and probably smelling) gross.
Hanmer Springs is famous for its geothermal hot pools, which we intended to take full advantage of. It is also a quaint town with beautiful surrounding scenery. During the winter time, the pools are just as popular but the town is also a base for local ski fields.
At only $18 (£9) each, the price was the same here as in Lake Tekapo, which only had a few pools compared to Hanmer's resort. For once, in hindsight, we were glad we had taken the decision not to do something!
We quickly got changed and chose our first pool when, low and behold, we bumped into a couple of friendly faces. Gemma and Smudge, the English couple we had been bumping into since Te Anau were there, waiting in the first pool, just as surprised to see us. We're beginning to think they're stalking us! It's odd to think that had we not plucked up the courage to go and ask them if they wanted to trade DVDs, we may have passed them in these places not recognising them at all.
The next few hours were spent hopping from hot pool to hot pool with a few rotten egg smelling pools thrown in for good measure. It was a beautiful day and the only things that could have made it better are a book and a glass of wine. When our skin could wrinkle no more and the fight for shaded pools was hotting up, we jumped out and got changed. On our way out we turned down the opportunity to pay $30 for a photo pack of us in the pools. Apparently nowadays going to some pools is an 'experience'.
From her passenger window, Pip tried to take some pictures of the scenery whilst on the go, which ended in a lot of wonky shots and pictures of trees, telegraph poles and fences. We're going to class these shots as 'art-deco'.
Next stop was Kaikoura on the east coast, where we had been informed was a must for whale watching. This was one of the main activities I had in mind before coming out here, so despite the expensive price for what is essentially a boat trip, we booked on for the following day.
After exploring the town a little we made our way to the free campsite which involved yet another epic journey along a single lane gravel track. Guess who was there at the site when we arrived? You guessed it, Gemma and Smudge! Definitely stalking us! That evening, we taught them the card game of nifty, a game which we had learnt in Thailand. Pip lost tremendously and Gemma won in style.
Day 19.
I finally got a hair cut that morning, just in time to make check in for our whale watching trip. Upon check in we were told that there was a 1.5m swell and high chance of motion sickness. Hooray! Nevertheless, neither of us have been sufferers of motion sickness before so we took the plunge regardless... bad decision.
The journey out to the whale grounds was great fun. Like being on a roller coaster, the boat flew off the top of waves and crashed into the next, splashing water all over the decks and windows. However, when we stopped, the boat rolled from side to side, Pip's eyes glazed over and the sick bag was on full stand by.
The whale we were on the lookout for was sperm whale, the fourth biggest animal on the planet and the biggest carnivore apparently. The skipper had had reports of a nearby whale but after a couple of false alarms, he gave up looking for it as it had likely dived down to hunt for food.
Instead, we moved on a few miles in search of a less shy whale. When the whale tours go out, they go out in a fleet of small(ish) boats. At first, we didn't know why they didn't just have a larger boat but that became immediately obvious when over the radio came "he's up!". Another of the boats had spotted a whale surfacing and the others soon flocked to it, keeping a respectful distance and making sure not to get in the whale's way.
Pip, now on her second bag, even trooped outside to see Toku the sperm whale. He was absolutely enormous. At 18m long, he was the same length as the boats we were on. After bobbing about on the surface for a while having a little rest, he gave us all the present we had been hoping for when he dived down lifting his tail high into the air. Everyone scrambled to take the magic shot and even Pip managed a smile. I swear some people spent the entire 10 minute experience looking through their camera lens, more intent on proving to others that they had seen it than just enjoying the experience.
Although we only saw one whale, the commentary en route to the whale grounds was enormously informative and accompanied by a great animated presentation which basically made us sperm whale experts by the time we had returned.
Unfortunately, Pip wished she hadn't gone, apparently the New Forest must have some resident sperm whales I never knew about.
Once safely back on terra firma, she tried to convince me that she deserved a crayfish dinner, the town speciality, but at $119 I told her to go fish. Back to the free campsite for a tasty sausage and potato meal instead!
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