#26 Kaikoura (Dolphins)

Good morning, Kaikoura


I swam with dusky dolphins in Kaikoura. This particular breed are known for their acrobatics. We found a large pod and hopped in. Looking down into the water I could see them swimming beneath me 4 layers deep. They dart by super fast and come really close. We weren't allowed to touch them because they are completely wild, but they were so close they were within reach. Then they would take off and everyone would climb back on the boat and we'd go find some more and jump in again. We did this 5 or 6 times. When you're in the water, they are more likely to come check you out if you dive under the water and make sounds into your snorkel. We were pretty much supposed to act like dolphins. After swimming we watched them for a while from the bow. It may have been the most pictures I've ever taken in one sitting. There were hundreds of them all around the boat. They were going wild, jumping around like wild banshees and doing somersaults. Sometimes a group would jump together in perfect unison. It was like a dolphin circus. Swimming with them and watching them was absolutely magical. I can't get the videos to upload but I will try later.

Faster than a speeding dolphin

Synchronized swimming

#25 Kaikoura (Mt Fyffe)

I worked a few nights at the best restaurant in town, The Green Dolphin. The first night I worked I met Christina. She's from CA, imagine that. The second night I went to work after doing the peninsula walk and told Christina I wanted to go up to the top of Mt Fyffe. She said she had been wanting to go, so we decided to go the next morning. The walk was gruelling. It was relentlessly steep and took us nearly five hours to get to the top (1600m). Eight hours round trip.

Hi, Christina!

The peninsula behind me is where I walked the day before. Kaikoura is at the base of the peninsula, on the left side.

At the summit I took 360° photos

Check out these big orange mushrooms!
That snack wasn't a good idea.

We got stuck in a traffic jam on the way home. Typical.

#24 Kaikoura (Peninsula)

Are you serious?

The drive down to Kaikoura was a windy one. The coastline seems even more rugged when waves are crashing onto the rocks.

Kaikoura sunrise.

From photos I've seen, the mountains are even more stunning when snow-capped. I'm looking forward to winter.

I went to the point where the seal colony is. It was low tide so I walked across the rocks instead of on the road, because it's more fun. I didn't realize I was already there until I stepped up on to a rock and was about to jump down when I was barked at by a large, grumpy seal. I took off running the opposite direction. I hadn't seen him and would have hopped down right next to him.

Here's your sign:

10 meters? Try 2 feet. And who would try to move a seal?

The king admiring his kingdom. I just want to stick a crown on him. Made of seaweed and puau shells and little fish bones.

Kaikoura is at the base of a high cliff peninsula, which I walked around.

I just could not get enough of these cows.

For you, Aunt Kim.

I would like to say that I walked down there and back up, but I would be lying.

Nobody move!

Gotta love the New Zealand bridges. "Maximum load 1 person."

#23 Adios, isla norte

I spent a couple days in Wellington, which is a really great city. Reminds me a bit of San Francisco. Much better than Auckland. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because I spent most of the time in the museum. Te Papa is a fantastic museum. I learned about volcanoes. And moas, the big birds similar to ostriches that are now extinct. NZ used to be bird land. The only animals native to NZ are a bunch of birds and just 3 species of mammals, all of which are bats. And if you think about it, bats are kind of like birds anyway. I guess it was too far away for non-flying animals to swim. Or jump. At some point someone introduced sheep though. There are 40 million sheep here, 10x the amount of people. No one thought to bring over snakes or bears or mountain lions so there are none here.

I met up with my friend, Courtney, and realized the last time we'd seen each other was 3 years ago in Santa Barbara. This is us outside of Mac's Brewery in Wellington Harbor. That's me there on the left.

And this is me being a tiger.

From Wellington I took the 3 hour ferry ride to the south island. It was stormy, to say the least.



The boat was rockin and rollin. The frames hanging on the wall were swaying back and forth. Then the ship turned and the pictures started leaning forward then slamming back into the wall. I don't get sea sick, so it was kind of fun. But lots of other people were getting sick, so it kind of wasn't fun.

When we got to the bays leading into the south island it was calm and beautiful.



The ferry arrives into Picton.


And now I'm on the south island, yay!