Swimming with Dolphins
December 18, 2005
Christchurch, New Zealand
From Renwick we went stopped by Hanmer Springs which are natural hot springs up in the mountains. It was nice to be able to go swimming in the hot sun at 6 pm in the middle of December! Our next stop was Kaikoura on the East coast where we went on the "dolphin encounter" tour. This exceeded all of my expectations and turned out to be my favorite thing that we did in all of New Zealand.
After gearing up with thick wetsuits (including hoods) and some snorkels, we took a boat out into the bay until we spotted the dolphins. The dolphins are in the area year-round living in the wild, not in captivity. The tours go out everyday and find where the dolphins are playing and let you swim with them in the open ocean. Dusky dolphins are very playful and curious and they like to do acrobatic jumps out of the water. As soon as we came across our first pod of dolphins, we all slipped into the water, and the dolphins immediately came right up to us. One was just a foot or two away as it swam in circles around me and I tried to keep up. We all had lots of interaction with the dolphins as they would keep swimming right up to you and veering away at the last second. They especially liked it when you dove down underwater and/or made noises through your snorkel.
Besides the dolphins, we also saw some interesting birds. We saw a couple types of Albatross, which have the longest wingspan of any bird in the world. It is hilarious to watch them take-off because their wings are so heavy that they need to run along the water to gather up enough speed to get into the air. We also saw a penguin! As we were swimming with the dolphins, I saw a yellow-eyed penguin swim by and I followed him for a good 5 minutes. Penguins aren't usually found there, but this one got off course and has been living in the bay for awhile.
After we were done swimming we got to watch the dolphins from the deck of the boat. They liked to come right up next to the hull of the boat and ride the pressure wave. The water was really clear and you could see them just below the surface of the water. We even got to see a couple do some jumps.
All in all a great day and a perfect ending to a great trip. All that's left now is a couple days in Christchurch before we fly home.
Posted by tim at 07:36 PM | Comments (1)
The North...of the South Island
December 15, 2005
Renwick, New Zealand
Update on our adventures for the last few days. We have kept on the move and have seen and done alot. Since leaving Fox Glacier, we took one full day to slowly drive along the West Coast up to the northern beach town of Kaiteriteri. On the way we stopped at Hopitika, which is known for its jade, and at the "pancake rocks", which are interesting rock formations where layers of rock are stacked ontop of each other that science has yet to be able to fully explain.
Abel Tasman
Kaiteriteri is right at the southern edge of the Abel Tasman National Park. On our first day there, we took a water taxi into the middle of the park and hiked ("tramped") back through the park. It was a pretty walk along the coast and we had a great time. The next day, Jon went for a full-day guided kayak trip (called the "royale with cheese" trip) while Emily and I took a much needed day off from all activities.
Marlborough
From Kaiteriteri we had a short drive over to the town of Havelock. From there we all went kayaking together on the Marlborough Sounds. We went in the Tennyson Inlet and had the place to ourselves, very peaceful. We also got to try some raw oysters from our kayaks (that was a first for me).
Our next stop was the small town of Renwick in the middle of wine country. Marlborough is one of the most famous wine regions in New Zealand. We rented some bikes and went on a private wine tasting tour. We had a good time, and we all made it back without falling off our bikes!
Posted by tim at 07:18 PM | Comments (2)
Cold as Ice
December 11, 2005
Fox Glacier, New Zealand
After leaving Milford Sound, we drove up to Wanaka for a night with a bit more wine tasting on the way. Wanaka was a great little town on yet another beautiful lake. We didn't spend long there, though, before driving up to Fox Glacier, one of two glaciers on the west coast.
Skydive
We got there in the evening, and Jon went to look into skydiving for the next day. He came back with a grin on his face and said he was jumping in 30 minutes! We went over to the tiny airstrip across the street. Jon got suited up in his flight suit and briefed on what to do. They loaded up the tiny Cessna plane with what appeared to be a 15 year old as pilot. Emily and I watched as they took off down the runway, and then we went to wait at the landing area. The landing area was, appropriately enough, a sheep field down the road. The conditions were just about perfect - the sun was just about to set and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Jon had a great time and said the view over the mountains and the glacier were amazing. (Don't worry, Mom, he's fine!)
Heli-hike
The next day we all signed up for a heli-hike on the glacier. We took a helicopter flight up to the middle of the glacier, hiked around for 3 hours, and then took a helicopter back to the ground. I had never been in a helicopter, and it was a fun ride. Felt a little unstable to me but was a cool experience. The hike was alright; unfortunately, it got cold and rainy just after we started. It was interesting to see the blue ice, though, and we saw some neat ice caves and crevices.
While we were in Fox Glacier, we also checked out Lake Matheson and Gillespie's Beach. We went to Lake Matheson on a beautiful night (just after Jon's skydive) and were able to see an incredible reflection of the mountain in the water. We went to Gillespie's Beach the next day for a bbq, but we weren't allowed to make a fire so we had to scrap that plan. The beach was still quite pretty though. It was a stone beach with huge waves crashing in.
Posted by tim at 03:17 AM | Comments (12)
Milford Sound
December 08, 2005
Te Anau, New Zealand
From Queenstown, we drove down to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park. Although the area gets about 200 days of rain a year, we lucked out with a beautiful, sunny day. Jon went out kayaking for the day, while Emily and I took a boat cruise around the sound. We learned that it is actually a fiord, not a sound, although the difference seems rather technical to me. Anyway, Milford Sound was absolutely beautiful. The area is surrounded by tree-covered mountains with lots of waterfalls from the rain the days before. We spotted some seals and dolphins on the cruise too.
Posted by tim at 06:50 PM | Comments (111)
Adventure Capital of the World
December 06, 2005
Queenstown, New Zealand
Emily and I arrived in Christchurch around 9 pm on December 3rd where we met up with my brother, Jon. He had already arranged a rental car so we could be mobile from the start. This is the first time on our whole trip that we have had our own transportation, which is a nice change of pace. We decided not to waste any time and start the roadtrip, so we drove 2 hours down to Timaru on the first night.
We spent all of the next day driving from Timaru to Queenstown. It took a while to get used to the narrow, windy roads, but the drive was beautiful with lots of mountains, lakes, and sheep (the sheep are everywhere). We stopped along the way to check out Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, both of which are a glowing turquoise blue color. The interesting color comes from rock-flour in the water. We stopped for lunch in the small town of Twizel before pushing on to Queenstown.
Queenstown
Queenstown is nice, well-to-do ski-town in the mountains. Since it is summer here, there is no skiing now, but there are plenty of other options to keep you busy and get your adrenaline pumping. Queenstown is known for its extreme sports; I think it is probably the adventure capital of the world. You can do just about anything imaginable here - jetboating, white-water rafting, bungy jump, river boarding, skydive, skiing, mountain biking, etc, etc. Since that is the thing to do here (and because we are with my brother who is the most active person I know), we booked mountain biking, white-water rafting, and I signed up for a bungy jump.
We spent our first full day in Queenstown mountain biking. We rented bikes and asked for advice on a good, intermediate trail. He recommended a 3 hour ride around Moke Lake. Turns out, the ride was a bit harder than we expected. There were lots and lots of hills plus riding on grass and steep gravel downhills, not to mention having to climb over sheep fences multiple times. We ended up making it, exhausted, but it took us 5 hours.
Our second day in Queenstown went much more according to plan, but we were even more busy. We started with whitewater rafting on Shotover River in the morning. It was freezing when we woke up, but they suited us up with wetsuits, jackets, lifejackets, and helmets, so we were nice and warm. Getting to the river was a bit scary since we had to ride in a bus along the second most dangerous road in New Zealand. It is right along a cliff with a sheer dropoff on one side. It is so bad that rental cars are not insured on this one road. Once we made it to the water, the rafting was great. There was one section, called "The Mother", which has 4 class 4 rapids in a row. We finished by going through a tunnel and then down a great cascading rapid.
After whitewater rafting, we got in a quick wine tasting at Chard Farm. The Central Otago region is known for their Pinot Noir. I like it but I don't know much about wine; Jon liked it too, though, so that probably means that it was really good.
After I'd had a couple samples of wine, I was ready to go across the street for my bungy jump. I went on Kawarau Bridge, which was the first bungy jump site in the world. It all happened surprisingly fast. I checked in, walked out, and was ready to jump in about 5 minutes. Let me preface this by saying that I have never been bungy jumping in my life. I didn't really have time to think about what I was doing, which probably helped. When I got to the edge, I saw how far up I was and hesitated slightly. It is hard to will yourself to jump when you can see the ground so far below you. They counted down "5-4-3-2-1-Bungy", I jumped, screamed my lungs out, and then was plunged into the water up to my shoulders. What a rush! (Don't worry, Mom, I'm fine!)
Posted by tim at 03:02 AM | Comments (26)