New Zealand - Kiakoura

So off I am again this time flying not sailing unfortunately, but looking forward to what feels like a holiday from my holiday... ! A nice restful weekend break in Kiakoura. I leave on Thursday evening with Amy, flying from Sydney to Christchurch... the flight is about 2 1/2 hours, nice and easy and we arrive at midnight due to the time difference (2+ hrs ahead of Sydney).

We just crash at the airport hotel for the evening and then up early a bite to eat then we get a hire car and its off to Kiakoura which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive north up the coast. We get there for midday and check into what is described as a luxury spa... hmmm not quite, the rooms are really nice but no sign of a spa..?!? Was a little put out with the owner practically having a go at me for using a website other than his direct one to make the booking... I get the feeling he doesn't make much money that way. Tough!!

Luckily I booked the dolphin swim before we left, basically got the last 2 places on the last day available over the weekend thankfullly.. so Sunday at 5.30am we head out!! In the meantime we take a wander around have some lunch, soak up the sunshine (ah yes... it is sunny and warm as i was expecting Hobart weather!!) check out the beach (or pebbles!) and book a few things. We book to go swimming with Seals tomorrow morning, Amy goes for diving and book up a snorkel tour. The water is currently 15C, or feezing to you and me! So its funny that all the things to do are in the water... just praying for dry suits or something.

So its up and off to swim with seals first, we get our 14mm wet suits with hoods... very cosy! Then a short ride out to the seal colony and its in the water. We have our snorkel gear, and its head down in the water and almost straight away I spot a seal swimming. Visibility is a little poor, only a couple of metres so you can only see them once they are up close. Its amazing to see them swim and laze around in the wild. At one point one swims under me when I am lying on my back trying to sort out my snorkel gear and it comes up to sniff my bum... ha ha! Maybe it thought I was a large seal...

We spend a good couple of hours swimming which is excellent, the seals have us swimming all over the place so plenty excercise for this... and you need to keep moving as the water is so so so cold. The rest of the day we spend wandering Kiakoura and going to the seal colonies around the town.

After that its up at the crack of dawm 5.30am!! to swim with dolphins. I have to say though it is totally worth it, the experience is amazing. They come over and look you straight in the eye and swim round in circles with you and then duck round and under. Its a funny sight to see all these people in the water snorkelling and singing to keep the dolphins interested, the only songs I can think of are "lets all look on the bright side of life!" from Life of Brian and the theme to the muppet show... ha ha , but it seems to work, or mabye they ust think I am weird!

We see so many dolphins its fantastic, they all come up close and you can see the marks on them from when they mate... apparently they are the only other mammal that mates for fun..!! It is a shame you can't touch them soc you do really want to just reach out, it takes a bit to remember to keep your arms at your side. Its such a great experience and the dolphins are so playful, more interactive than the seals had been funnily.. (think the seals were a bit lazy when we went out!) you see them jumping out of the water and playing around you. Defintitely a worthwhile experience!

Unfortunately, in the afternoon the weather out in the water takes a turn for the worse and the tours are cancelled, no snorkel or diving, so we head out down the track from Kiakoura to the local winnery and do a little wine and cheese tasting in the afternoon. Lovely place, great wine and good fun... it has a fabulous sea view too and its a lovely hot sunny day.

We head back to Christchurch the next day to get our flight but have a little time to chill in the city and grab lunch, then its back to Sydney!!