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Northbound
Ater feeling a little sad that my travelling companions had left me I was glad to see a couple of familiar faces when I arrived in Kaikora, so I spent the first afternoon catching up with them and chilling out. I was up early the next morning as I was going to swim with the dusky dolphins that lived off the coast! I walked there with a girl whom I had met in the hostel the night before and was going at the same time as me, we had to get all the gear ready, wetsuits, snorkels, flippers the lot! Before going out in the boat we had a briefing telling us that the dolphins are not fed or trained that they are wild but eat at night time so are up for playing during the day. We were also given tips of how to interact with the dolphins, to make tooting sounds and diving down etc. it was about half an our on the boat until the dolphins had been located but we could not yet go in the water with them as they were playing with a young humpback whale. The crew were confused at the whales behaviour then figured his bar awry and curiosity towards the boat was probably because he was young, but it was amazing, he was about the length of the boat and kept on coming up so close (his breath stank though!). The boat pulled around to find a group of dolphins without a whale to swim with, and we found a group of about 60 dolphins (it's really hard to tell when they're all swimming about) and we plopped into the open ocean. The wetsuits are so buoyant you really don't have to worry about floating, just keeping up with the dolphins that want to play with you. I think the least amount of dolphins surrounding me at any one pint was probably 3, but there were so many and all curiously playful. I would swim round and round with them in circles giving them eye contact until I became so dizzy I wasn't even sure which was was up. It was amazing they just same so close and moved so quickly I thought one would accidentally bump into me. I have to surface a few times and take my snorkel off as I was laughing at how close they came and how brilliant it felt. I have no idea how long I was in the water for, most people's ton the boat and had a break at some point during the swimming, but I didn't. Finally they managed to drag us out the water together and warm and take photos of the dolphins showing off and going flips. It was truly great experience, that the dolphins do it just for their own fun is pretty special. When we got back to the hostel I was so tired I completely crashed out for a few hours. That evening a few of us went out to sample the local night life (the choice between 2 pubs) and ended up coming second in a pub quiz by pure luck, our best round being the last sports round and we guessed almost all the answers! The next morning I took a stroll and looked in the local nic-nak shops and walked up to see the seal colony, however I had not looked up the tide times and when I arrived there were only a few fat sleepy, smelly seals and it was high tide.
The following day was to get the coach across from the South Island to Wellington. It was a sunny day so we sat out on the deck for a bit on the ferry,you could really see how NZ has more coast line than Australia because of how it was shaped, with lots of coves and beaches and islands, looks pretty stunning. Arriving in Wellington you could tell that 'Hobbit fever' had hit. There were signs naming wellington as the middle of middle earth everywhere, and lots of Hobbit related posters and characters around. I settled into my hostel and was meeting up with a couple of friends as we were going to watch the new Bond film at the cinema. Embassy cinema was getting ready for the premier of the Hobbit, so was decorated with a giant wizard and hobbit hole. The film was pretty enjoyable but it was fun to soak up the excitement in the atmosphere for the coming premier. We then sampled the cool bars and clubs that Wellington had to offer on a Friday night.
The next day I went for an explore or my own, I went via the old cable car up to a viewpoint, looked around their observatory and then made my way down and around their botanic gardens. They had lots of different themed small walks, like a perfumed walk, sculptor walk, NZ bush walk etc, and at the end was a magnificent rose gardens, not to different in style to the one in canoe lake, but much grander in scale. Being early summer all the roses were in bloom and apart from looking beautiful the smell was amazing too. On the way back to the hostel I went via the high street where they had a water feature which if you were walking unawares you would get completely soaked, as I very nearly did, (but it is quite a funny spot to sip your coffee and watch u suspecting tourists get caught out!).
On the Sunday I checked out the many Food markets they had on offer, nd the special Hobbit market, which was funny is n itching else. But I spent the bulk of my day in the NZ national museum Ta pupa. I was in the for hours, it was really interesting and interactive, lots about the Maori culture and migration and European settlers, oh and a giant squid! One of the perks about the museum apart from serving excellent cake was free wifi, free wifi that worked (this is a miracle in NZ). So I spent some time on there long with several other people I could spot. My last day in Wellington I decided to check out the parliamentary buildings being that it is the Capitol of NZ. I went on a free tour of the buildings, which had been rebuilt a coupe of times due to fires and earthquakes, it was interesting to learn about the history of like with the British empire. I also went into an art museum but it was rather same same colonial paintings of important people of the times. In the evening I went down to harbour side park as they were showing the second Lord of the Rings film on big screen for people to watch, it was a friendly atmosphere and there was a professionally made up character an 'Orc' there which was pretty cool. I left the following morning to Taupo, only a day before the premier.
Taupo was only a necessary stop on the way back to Auckland, but it was a hot day so I went for a stroll around the lake. Had the walk on the volcanos been open I would have considered doing it as it is meant to be one of the most beautiful walks in the world, however the volcano had erupted not a week before so they weren't yet allowing people to take the trek. The following evening I was in Auckland, but only for the night as I was off to the bay of islands the following day.
It was a painful start, getting the bus at 7.10 and the weather wasn't too great that first day, we just took a look around the town and went to the local bar in the evening, which was fun as we got to chat to some awesome locals.
After a lazy morning we went on a walk to see the treaty house, where the British colonials signed the founding document of NZ with the Maori chiefs, it was a nice walk but when we got there they tried to charge us $45 each to enter! We didn't like the idea of that and got a ferry over to Russell for some lunch instead. There wasn't a lot there apart from the oldest pub in NZ, and an apparent shady history of being the 'hell hole of the Pacific'.
It was another early start as we headed off to cape reinga, the most northern point of NZ, and a very spiritual place for the Maori people. First of all we went for a walk up to the cape, saw where the Pacific ocean meets the Tasman sea. At the edge of the cliffs, a when looking down there was a single tree clinging on to the Sid elf the rock face. Maori people believe that when a person dies their sprint waits and looks down at NZ from the cliff tops then pass down the roots of that tree into the ocean it overlooks and to their spiritual home land.
It is a sacred sight so you can only walk on certain paths and mustn't eat on the site. It felt very serene and I could understand why the Maori people would consider it a sacred place. We went to one of the little secluded beaches with white shelled sand. There was a campsite just next to the beach and the water had a little surf and potential snorkel site too- all in all a place to stay next time I'm in NZ! After a short drive down the road we stopped and did a bit of sand boarding, the climb up the giant sand dune was killer but the ride down was totally worth it, I was surprised just how fast I went! We were then going to drive down ninety mile beach, which pretty much describes itself. Our driver was pretty funny and he was turning the coach on the beach and it got stuck. Then a couple of the guys and him managed to get the wheel even deeper in the sand, whilst almost being decapitated, it was pretty scary. Soon though some other people came on the beach and took up driver to the farmer who brought his tractor down and heaved us out of the sand (it was really touch and g whether it would be able to, seeing tractor wheels turning in the sand was t a comforting sight). So after three hours on a hot sandy beach we were freed from the sand, what did I do you ask? Well I thought that too many cooks spoil the broth and to wait for the farmer so I paddled, doodled and bathed, not the worst situation to find yourself stranded in! Good as new the bus drove down the very long sandy beach, but my heart was in my mouth whenever he turned, not because I was afraid of being stranded on the beach but that we were meant to be visiting a fish and chip shop on the way back and I was afraid that now it was getting late. I needn't have worried, because of the ordeal we had to go through (sunbathing for 3 hours) the company bought us a beer to go with our fish and chips! All in all a good day, followed by a good evening, as that night I stayed up late to watch England get their butt kicked by the all blacks. There were only a few of us up still at that time, mainly kiwis, who were really not impressed at mine and Sam complete shock and euphoria at England's win! I could not believe it! The following morning was our last in bay of islands, it was a hot day and a couple of us went for a little kayak around the bay, which was beautiful.
Back in Auckland that evening I went out and said goodbye to the people I was at the bay with as most of them were continuing their journey on in NZ. I had a couple of days in Auckland before my flight to relax, shop and pack my bag. It really felt at this point liked wanted to go home, I just hated all the hanging around. I got to the airport in plenty of time, but after checking in etc my flight was delayed, and then cancelled. As they were allocating hotels I pleaded with the to find me a different flight to London through a different city (as I was not concerned with going to HK) and I got one of the last tickets for an evening flight through LA with air NZ, rather than having to wait 24 hours. This would not be that significant, but I have since found out that in the morning I would have left if I waited that 24 hours there was a huge tornado in Auckland, killing three people and grounding all flights, so I feel very exceptionally lucky to have got the flight I did as I would have found it very frustrating to have to wait another day to come home! I am finishing this blog whilst waiting for Mum to pick me up from the airport, (as my flight was early too!) and I can't wait to see you all!
Lots of love,
Zoe x
- comments
Carol and John (Christchurch) Loved reading your experiences, Zoe, especially swimming with the dolphins. John had a go at sandboarding on 90 mile beach a couple of years ago (aged 71) I stood there with the camera and snapped him rolling over, trudging back to the top, rolling off again....! You'll surely remember all this holiday. Our son Jon (grandson of a Wills/Willis) gets home from Cambodia on Tuesday having completed the climbing wall in the Kidzone. He visited the temple Angkor Wat and said it was "just mind blowing". Hope you enjoy catching up with friends and rellies and returning to "normal". Best wishes, Carol and John
Anne Sparks Lucky you, swimming with dolphins that must be an amazing and unforgettable experience, one I would love to do. Glad you got home OK and look forward to catching up with you and your holiday photos sometime soon. Love Anne x