Day 7-Kaikoura

After a relaxing stay in Renwick in wine country, we headed south for our last stop before Chch.  Kaikoura!  Kaikoura is the dolphin and whale watching capital of the world and holds this title because of a huge underwater trench (there are only 5 in the world) that is 1 mile deep and several miles wide.  It is basically like an upside down empty mountain under the water!  The warm water from the Pacific Ocean meets with the cold water of the Arctic and pushes up lots and lots of food that explodes with nutrients as it reaches the surface.  It is very close to the shore, and therefore provides year-long sustenance for the dolphins and whales.  So they don't need to migrate.

Tomorrow we'll be swimming...in the ocean...with the dolphins!  I love and have always loved dolphins.  They are so playful and peaceful at the same time, and beautiful as they glide through the water.  I had so many dolphins all over my apartment at home, and have gone on a few tours to check them out in California.  I even have a book describing everything about my personality based on my birthday, May 28, and it describes dolphins as my power animal.  So it's a sign it was meant to be!  A lifelong dream of mine was to swim in the wild with them...and when I researched NZ over a year ago, the Kaikoura dolphin encounter has been on the top of my list since!

So today we arrived in Kaikoura.  The weather, however, was yucky!  Rainy, cloudy, super windy, and cold.  I was hoping, that typical to NZ weather, by tomorrow the weather would be clear for my once-in-a-lifetime experience.  We walked briskly through the beachy town, ducking into a few shops to stay out of the rain and cold.  Kaikoura is also known for paua (abalone) so we picked up a few souvenirs at the shell shop!  To warm up, we had a yummy seafood chowder at an organic cafe before relaxing back at the lodge we were staying at.

At the end of the day we enjoyed a lovely sunset over the mountains of Kaikoura while bundled up on the lodge's deck, and got to bed early to rest up for the dolphin encounter!

 

 

Day 6-Renwick

What better way to ring in the New Year than with some wine?!  After a comfortable night at Watson's Way, we rented bikes and set out for a cycle through wine country.  With a map in hand, we checked various vineyards off our list, biking to each.  The weather was spectacular, with the vineyards sprawled across the valley, surrounded by climbing hills.  The ride to each vineyard was lovely, riding through sheep farms, and past rows upon rows of grapevines.  Most vineyards that were open offered free tastings, so we were able to visit three, stopping for a lenghthy lunch at one of them, and even visiting a brewery!  The views were amazing!

 

 

 

Day 5-Renwick

Our next bus trip took us to Renwick, a small town right near Blenheim in the heart of the Marlborough region---simply put, wine country!  The hostel we were staying at was peaceful and relaxing, and super clean.  There was lots of outdoor space on the property and we spent the afternoon and evening walking the town (it was so small, it didn't take very long!) and playing cards and board games on the expansive deck.  It was very relaxing.  We capped off the night watching a NZ movie, The World's Fastest Indian, starring Anthony Hopkins and sharing homemade pavlova with fresh boysenberries from the hostel owners.  Yum!

Day 4-New Years in Nelson

Ouch.  I must be getting old since I am aching and sore from hiking and kayaking.  The weather changed in Nelson and was windy and cold today on New Year's Eve.  After sleeping off the soreness, we went out for a slow and quiet stroll around Nelson.  Our first stop was Founder's Park, a small series of historical buildings depicting the early life in Nelson.  The weather might have contributed to the lack of visitors in the park, because it felt more like a ghost town than anything!  It was kind of strange walking in the little buildings, completely empty, and looking at the mannequins and old artifacts.  We made the most of the adventure, taking silly pictures in lots of the displays.  We finally settled for lunch at the only cafe there, that housed New Zealand and Australia's oldest organic brewery.  We had a couple of burgers, sampled the beers, and moved on.

 

  

Our next stop was the Miyazu Gardens, a Japanese zen garden set up for Nelson's sister city in Japan.  It had potential for being pretty, but unfortunately it was under construction, so we were unable to see it in its full glory.  We made the long walk back to the hostel, stopping for gelato.  We even sampled some with sunflower seeds and marigold petals!  We took a quick snooze (had to prepare to stay up late!), had a pizza for dinner, and got ready to head out to Renwick the next day.  After a short rain storm, we walked towards the town square, bustling with people ready to celebrate the new year.  There were bands playing, and all of the restaurants and bars were open out onto the street.  There were people of all ages waiting to ring in the new year.  The stroke of midnight itself was anticlimactic, with a fast countdown, confetti explosions, and a continuation of the music, but it was really cool to think that we were celebrating the New Year 16 hours before Times Square!

 

Happy New Year 2009!!!

Day 3-Abel Tasman National Park

I woke up today feeling a bit sore from all of the kayaking yesterday.  Today our goal was to hike from Anchorage Bay down the coastal track back to Marahau, where we starting kayaking yesterday.  We had a quick breakfast on the boat, and set off. 
    

Bret was carrying a huge pack and I had the smaller one full of our food and water.  After liberally applying sunscreen (my lips got burnt and blistered the day before) and insect repellent, we strapped on the packs, and headed up the track.  The first 20 minutes of the hike was entirely uphill and I wasn't sure this was going to be as relaxing as the 'walks' the guidebooks talked about.  But boy, were those first 20 minutes worth it!  Before long, we were high into the hills, overlooking Anchorage Bay and the Tasman Sea, peering down on the majestic green water we had kayaked the day before.  The hike was hot and sticky, and we even stopped off for a swim on one of the beaches.  It felt like we were walking through the jungle, with waterfalls and bridges over streams.  The shade was our only solace from the heat, and it was well appreciated.  The hike took up almost 5 hours with all of our stops to refuel and cool down.  The scenery was incredible...I felt like we were finally seeing NZ for the reasons we came here!  There were so many pictures, I tried to pick out the best ones...

 View of Anchorage Bay

 

  

NZ's famous silver fern (Punakaiki)

  

After the hike, we boarded a bus back down to Nelson, to stay for a couple of nights and celebrate the new year!

Day 2-Abel Tasman National Park

Our main goal on this trip was to relax, really attempting to embrace the kiwi lifestyle.  We left the computers at home, and decided to play things mostly by ear.  The only things we planned in advance were our initial bus trip departing Christchurch, our accommodation, and our dolphin swim.  The rest was up in the air; we had ideas of what we wanted to do in each location, but we just waited until we arrived to go any further.
   

This theory proved a little challenging when getting ready to depart for Abel Tasman National Park.  The park is a 1.5 hour bus ride away from Nelson, and is only accessible by boat or on foot.  We had anticipated sea kayaking to all of the private beaches, but without a reservation and it being high season, we were pretty much out of luck when we tried booking the night before.  Determined nonetheless, we decided to get off the bus at the base of the coastal track, just to try our luck at renting a kayak.  The first shop we walked into had just had a cancellation and were incredibly surprised and reminded us of how amazing it was that we managed to get the spot.  We spent an hour going through safety training, since we were going to be freedom-kayaking (without a guide).  We crammed our packs into the small compartments of the kayaks, grabbed a map, and set off to kayak the open water up to Anchorage Bay.

The water was calm, and we were able to stop at any of the private beaches along the way.  The sun was shining and warm, and it was a beautiful day; these beaches have been ranked among the world's top 5  beaches by the UK Guardian.  We unpacked a picnic (you have to bring all of your own food into the park (there's no shops!) and take all your own rubbish out with you) and relaxed halfway into the trip on one of the sandy beaches!  Paradise!  The water was an incredible teal color with the contrasting yellow sand and clear blue sky...
   

The trip got progressively harder, as the last part of the paddle is known as the Mad Mile.  There's basically nowhere to stop off and it's open water that's not sheltered.  Therefore, conditions can change rapidly with the weather.  We braved it, and the most we experienced was a bit of wind.  Luckily, the kayak never tipped over, and we made it to Anchorage Bay in the afternoon safe and sound, and slightly sore!

 

Anchorage Bay 

    

In Anchorage Bay we were staying at Aquapackers, a houseboat hostel.  It is the only one of its kind in the park; other accomodation is by camping or staying in huts in the park.  The houseboat was equipped with 20+ beds, and we were sleeping in the smallest sleeping quarters down in the hull of the boat.  Not the most glamourous, but a total experience!  We enjoyed a BBQ dinner on the boat, got to know a few kiwis, and watched the sunset over the mountains in the sheltered bay.  A long and glorious day!

 

Aquapackers and our sleeping quarters!

Day 1-Nelson

***Our holiday vacation was jam-packed!  I've decided to back-blog for each day we were gone since I took so many pictures and did so much!***

Our first day of our holiday started early, taking a cab at 6:30 in the morning to meet the bus for the major bus ride of the journey.  We traveled by coach bus up the east coast of the south island, from Christchurch, with a few stops, all the way up to Nelson.  In total, about 7 hours travel time.  It was a long day, and I struggled with motion sickness, but we finally arrived.

Nelson is a spectacular artsy beach town on the top of the south island, much smaller than Christchurch, with a population of about 40,000.  We arrived here mid afternoon and settled in.  Already, the weather is warmer and more consistent than Chch.  We walked through the city's center, browsed the cute shops, and toured their cathedral.  My favorite part of our short time in Nelson was eating at Go Mexico!  I had been craving Mexican food for a long time, and had already planned on eating at this restaurant well in advance.  It wasn't the best Mexican food ever or anything, but it hit the spot.  We headed back to the hostel for an early night in...getting ready to head out to Abel Tasman the next day!