Kaikoura

Hi All,

Over Easter weekend Andrea and I finally were able to check off one of our main N.Z. to-do's. We had tried to visit the little coastal town of Kaikoura during our original trip out here two years ago but had to skip it due to lack of time. With the four-day Easter holiday we finally found time to head up the coast to experience firsthand what we'd been hearing about from friends for years.

Kaikoura is about 2 hours drive north of Christchurch (8 hours north of Dunedin) and is a delightful little village that used to be a whaling station in the 1800s. The town sits on a small peninsula at the base of a beautiful mountain range and due to it's particular underwater geography is home to abundant marine wildlife. People come to Kaikoura to see whales, seals and sea lions, Albatross and sea birds, but mostly they (and we) come to see dolphins. There is a very popular cruise out of the Kaikoura harbour that allows you to swim in a pod of up to a thousand dusky dolphins.

We drove about half way up the coast Thursday night after work and camped out along the Waitaki river. We got into Kaikoura on Friday and did some exploring, going for a hike around the Kaikoura peninsula...

The peninsula has a seal colony at the end. The seals were so accessible, it was as if you were able to walk through the seal exhibit at a zoo. There were heaps of them, and they weren't getting much privacy from each other, nor from the crowds of people there to see them.
We set out on a little hike after this first tourist attraction. Andrea had remembered there was a coastal route, and decided to drag the dubious Dave along. Drea tried to get me washed out to sea here. Perhaps it was a low-tide option and Andrea didn't read the fine print. The high road proved less treacherous.
Perhaps I shouldn't dance in front of a camera.

We went up the road after our hike to a little seaside trailer selling a variety of seafood along the beach. We'd read about this little place in our travel guide and the food was fantastic. We were also treated to an exquisite moonrise.

The next day we had our dolphin cruise. We were a little concerned about the weather being cold, since we'd waited until late in the season to finally do this, but we woke up to a stunner of a day. Not a cloud in the sky and very calm conditions. Perfect for going out on the Ocean. We went to the Dolphin Experience headquarters, got fitted for our wetsuits and given our safety briefing.

On the boat ride out to the dolphins we enjoyed the view back over the town and it's mountain backdrop.

This is Drea (I think?!?) in her full wet suit.

The pod we swam with had approximately 200 dolphins in it. Apparently a few weeks ago this pod had numbered around a thousand. We were told to make noise, sing and attempt to entertain the dolphins if we wanted to get them to interact with us. Both Drea and I had individual experiences with dolphins circling, swimming and playing with us. It was just amazing.

That's Drea in the center (I think?!?) with dolphins on her right. (this picture may not do the experience justice...)Ok, that's definitely Andrea.

So incredibly cool!

We went back to town and relaxed on the beach for a while soaking in the sun and reliving our adventure...
That night we wandered downtown and enjoyed a few beers while puzzling over a rugby match. It's been a year and a half in New Zealand and still neither of us understands that game. Then back to our holiday park for a soak in the hot tub. (best holiday park ever!)

The next morning we wandered down to the beach and had some fun with the mountains of driftwood that were washed ashore.

I call this "Evolution of a Walking Stick"Drea had the idea to create an anatomically correct driftwood skeleton.
Dave had the idea to call him Neptune, give him a trident, and have him point to the sea.

We then packed up our stuff and went to visit a little lavender farm and wandered through their cute little gardens.

Kaikoura is also reknown for being one of the best places in New Zealand for eating Crayfish. Almost every restaurant has a Crayfish entree. We decided to go back to the little outdoor cafe by the beach. Here's a shot of our dish. Crayfish barbequed in garlic and butter. Sooooo goood!!!

On the way back to Dunedin we stopped at a little local brewery for pizza dinner. We bought a sampler tray of beers and decided to do a little blind taste test to see if we could tell one beer from another. Andrea was able to identify all four without looking but unfortunately for me (and my pride at being what I thought was this couple's beer connoisseur) I made a bit of a mistake. Here's me and my shame...Smells like a pilsner... tastes like a pilsner.. Looks like a stout! Wait a minute.. did she switch these? Oh the humanity.

We got back to Dunedin late on Sunday and had one more day to relax before heading back to work so we took some time to explore the Botanical Gardens. We'd read about an agave plant there and wanted to see it for ourselves. The agave plant supposedly stores up all its energy over 25-30 years to produce its last hurrah: a bloom at the top of a huge central stalk that looks like an enormous asparagus. Here's Andrea next to it....
Hope you all had a happy easter.

Love,
Dave and Andrea