Waves On The Esplanade Kaikoura

We were booked on a whale watching tour on the Monday morning to see the sperm whales that reside on the coast by Kaikoura all year round. We had heard that the previous 2 days trips had been cancelled due to rough seas but we were optomistic when we got up as it was sunny spring day. The first whale watching boat of the day had sailed so things were looking good. We headed over to the whale watch centre, went through the safety talk and got the coach to take us ...

... for 45 to 50 minutes to find food. After<br>they feed they go back up to the surface for maybe 10 minutes or so<br>to get air and then they go right back down. So there is only a<br>small gap of time when you can see a whale on the surface before they<br>dive down again. Whales use clicking sounds to find their food &#8211;<br>so the crew used these hydrophones to track the whales. During<br>mating season males &#8220;sing a song&#8221; for 35 ...

... said hello to everyone. Got all the emails etc up to date and photos on Facebook, went for run, went down to the water front then went into town before 6PM to get some supplies for dinner, which basically consisted of Bread, Water &amp; Coke Zero, and I was set.<br>From here tomorrow it will be confirming appointments in Christchurch for hopefully tomorrow or the morning after as I want to head out of Christchurch on Tuesday.<br>More to come!<br>

... vers un autre coin... c'est magique.... Et c'est a ce moment la que mon estomac commence a me donner des signes qu'il n'est pas tres confortable... Deja dans l'eau les vagues au milieu de l'ocean commencent a devenir de plus en plus grandes, et de boire le tasse n'arrange pas tout ca... je suis assise au bord du bateau prete a replonger mais je sens la nausee qui monte.... Je passe la prochaine heure a vomir tout ce que je peux dans mon petit seau jaune ...

Our last week in New Zealand was spent in a very relaxing mode. We hired a tandem and cycled round 5 of the vineyards around Blenheim in the Marlborough area. We had never ridden a tandem before and I am not sure we will rush to again! It was fun but from the point of view of the person on the back seat it was not as enjoyable as cycling by yourself. I really enjoyed the wines and got into the Reislings, which ...

... but again the scenery is amazing with snow-capped mountains almost running into the sea, which is a brilliant turquoise. However, the weather stayed overcast and we couldn't see the tops of the mountains until today. We ate in the restaurant here last night and had a very nice dinner followed by an early night, as, on the landlady's advice, we changed our whale-watching trip to 7.45am. She said the later you are booked for the more ...

... of the water to get oxygen are sighted from the air, and the boats go off to find them. Right from the beginning, I started my tactics against seasickness - watching the horizon, eatting ginger cookies, and trying not to think of it. Someone behind me was getting sick, and I just tried to close my ears and to divert my nose from the noxious fumes. Our guide just talked non-stop... I later decided it was to mask the sounds of retching... these ...

Managed to catch up with Andy and Kristina ( met in China) they are on the "magic bus" around NZ and stopping in Nelson. We walked parts of the Able Tasmin coast...the largest fresh water springs in the southern hemisphere are at Waikoroupupu - dont ask me to pronounce it, spelling it was hard enough! went to the waterfall at Wainui, short walk that crosses one of those death defying swing bridges, this one had lots of sand flies lying in wait : 0 ...

... it was cool to see different spots along the coast.<br><br>Katie was buzzing after each swim, she absolutely LOVED it in the water and was really sad when they were called back in for the last time.<br><br> <br><br>On ...