Saturday 20th July
I set my alarm early enough to feel I could go out and possibly move my poo if needed in the light of day. I went out and searched for it but couldn't really find it, only a kind of mushy looking thing which looked like animals had been at it. You're welcome little forest animals for your tasty supper. I had a little wander round and its actually a nice spot with what looked like a lovely walking track. Looking the other way you could see in the distance but with all the clouds like a sea of cotton candy. After admiring the view with my bed hair and pyjamas I went back into the van to wake Liam and tell him the good news that the murderers and possum hunters was actually just another campervan. And that my poo was no longer a worry.
We walked around a little bit before getting back in the van and on our way to kaikoura with a plan to maybe swim with dolphins there or go whale watching. The area is beautiful, it's sea coasts and mountain ranges all rolled into one, I loved it. On the way in we saw lots of seals on the rocks by the road so it was fun watching out for them as we got closer to the town. We spent a while considering whether we were going to whale watch and in the end decided against it. Despite really wanting to do it it was 150 dollars each for half an hour and we just couldn't justify it after already spending so much on having fun! The dolphin swimming was also out if the question due to the pods being split up today when usually they're all together.
We had a hot drink and a wander round before hopping in the van to go seal hunting on our own. We had read about a waterfall so made our way there via the coastal road. We pulled over on a spot by the coast and ate cheese and crackers on a rock by the sea. There was a lone seal on a rock perhaps 4 meters away from us so that was nice to eat lunch next to a seal! Little did we know there was better to come. We pulled up at the waterfall track and began the 10 minute walk. On the way up we walked past some cute baby seals sat on rocks all around, I never knew you got seals in the woods and streams!! We saw a few as we wandered up, but then we got to the waterfall and we couldn't believe our eyes. There were dozens of pups in and around the waterfall, all swimming and playing or sitting drying off at the sides. We'd never seen anything like it, and the experience was way up in my best ever experiences. We must have spent about an hour there watching and walking around spotting others in and around the woods and stream. They were born at sea but once they reach about 3-4 months they begin coming up the stream that meets the sea to explore. They spend a couple of days at a time up in the waterfall and surrounding areas learning through play and socialising its each other. They then go down to sea to feed from mum before heading back up to play again. As the pups get bigger and more active mum needs to hunt more so my understanding of it was the streams are more or less a crèche for them! As they reach about 10 months old they begin to stay at sea and learn to hunt themselves. The pups we saw were about 7 months old so not long to go until they go out into the world :)
I was buzzing after that, we thought it was just great! We drove back to the town and had a little walk on the pebble beach. The weather was fairly pleasant, and the walk was nice because we wernt too cold and the mountains in the background were just beautiful. There were people fishing and people sat just relaxing on the pebbles looking out to sea or reading. We spent a couple of hours sat in a bar by the fire on a big comfy couch, we had a few drinks and a big bowl of chips between us whilst catching up with a few things we'd missed online.
The evening was spent doing a little big of packing, showering, cooking our last meal and relaxing in the warm. We are so sad to be having our last night in the van, it's served us well and we will miss it loads.
Sunday July 21st
Today was fairly uneventful as days go. We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and tomatoes to use up some more food before finishing packing up our things and cleaning the van. We also had to do things like make sure the tank was full, empty waste water etc. but we decided to do that later.
We drove for perhaps an hour and a half towards Christchurch before stopping at a picnic area and having some lunch. It was such a lovely sunny day, we put the outside table top down and ate outside. There was a dog who decided to join us too but unfortunately she didn't persuade us to give her any food. Happy I had used up as much food as I could during breakfast and lunch I packed some up and threw some away and then we were off again.
We had a bit of a palaver finding somewhere to dump the waste water and toilet and were diverted on the way, all of which made us late getting the van back by about 15 minutes but it was fine. The staff have been great and I would recommend the company to anybody!
In the taxi on the way to the hotel we got talking to the taxi driver who was telling us about the2011 earthquake. He said he only just got a new house last week because his house sunk during the quake. He showed us all the empty areas where damaged buildings have been demolished and spoke of how bad it had been. He said they had not had any tremors for 2 whole months, but generally there's movement all of the time.
We arrived at the hotel which was so lovely! Liam had kept where we were going a secret and it was posh by our standards. The room was lovely, there was a gym and sauna and a bar and restaurant. I was so pleased we would be staying there over my birthday.
After a short time of being in our room, we heard creaking above our heads at about 5.10pm. It went on for perhaps 30 seconds and sounded like creaking and people walking. After 30 seconds or so that we realised the whole room was swaying, not violently because nothing was rocking or anything on the shelves, but it was enough to feel it. I stood up and went to the window and my whole body was rocking back and forth from the movement of the building. At that point I'd say almost 2 minutes had passed and we decided it was probably best to go downstairs. On getting downstairs nothing much was really happening and nobody seemed that concerned. We found out that it had been a big quake up by wellington and we had felt the shocks from that...being higher up we had felt the building sway and it had continued to sway for longer than the actual earthquake.
We were assured we were safe but could move to a lower level if we wanted but we were fine, that said Liam was more than a little bit nervous for the rest of the night. We used the sauna which was great, watched keenan and kel on the tv which was great, then sat in the lobby drinking cocktails which was also great!
Monday 22nd July
I kind of woke up at about 8am this morning, it was the mor comfortable night I'd had in months and I loved waking up in such a lovely bed! At 8.30am there was a knock on the door with a little "room service" voice coming through. I couldn't believe my ears,I was so excited! Liam had ordered breakfast the day before but when I wasn't around. So I had a big bowl of fruit and yoghurt, plus poached eggs and salmon with roasted tomatoes and a few other lovely things on it. Liam poured our tea and we enjoyed breakfast before leisurely getting up and dressed to go out for the day.
We had nothing in particular planned, I didn't want to do much I was happy just relaxing. We walked to quake city and went into the museum, which was a good hour well spent. It was about how the 2011 earthquake effected the area, had footage and interviews of people telling their stories, items thst had been damaged were there and lots of information boards and things to read and watch. It was really good and worth going in. Walking around you could see the devastation even 2 years on, lots of building works going on. Buildings that weren't safe anymore still being demolished and new ones being put up. The main area we spent the afternoon in was streets of shipping containers that had been adapted into shops and cafes, it was wonderful. We sat a couple of times for a drink, we had food and browsed the shops and had a really nice day, just the kind of day I wanted. We also visited the botanic gardens which was pleasant because it was about 18 degrees so the warmest we've seen for quite some time. Sorry not much to write but we spent the day not doing that much!
Liam bought us some cookies and a chocolate brownie on the way home for us to eat in the hotel which we did with pleasure whilst watching tv. My plan of going to the gym was dashed for drinking Malibu and eating chips instead, but it was my birthday so what the hell. I spent hours uploading photos and was very tired by the time I was finished, and had had 3 malibus so was ready for bed! We went to sleep at around 12.30 after I finished off the cookies before my birthday ended. What a lovely day.
tuesday 23rd July
Another lovely nights sleep lastnight and a natural wake up at around 8.30am which is really late for us! Didnt even get out of bed until about 10, at that point I made us breakfast with left over muesli and honey from the van in the tea mugs with the little milks we got for the tea in the room. By 11.40am we were all packed up and leaving our room, which I was so so sad about because it was so comfortable!
Our taxi arrived at 12 and we did the usual waiting around in the airport for a few hours before boarding our plane at 15.15pm. We were very sad to be leaving New Zealand it's just been the best, it's so great and we know we won't be coming back or at least if we do it will be a long time away. We've enjoyed everything about it and I'm glad we also managed to listen to the whole lord of the rings trilogy on audio in the campervan!
The plane was quite nice, it was an emirates plane flying to Dubai, so sydney was just a stop over for it. Because of that the plane wasnt full so we had a row to ourselves, there was decent leg room and loooooads of stuff on the entertainment system. The food we had was also wonderful, not like plane food in the slightest and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I was actually a bit sad when it was time to land!
We managed to get through customs with relative ease despite some waiting and declaration of a couple of things. We then decided to go on the airport train into the city,I've never seen a train like it! It was a double decker, the bottom seats were perhaps about 30 cm under the platform, that's where we sat. It was a really nice train, we were on it for about half an hour before our stop and we managed to catch a glimpse of some of the sights on the way.
The hotel was perhaps a 10 minute walk with our bags, and is basic but comfortable. Is very expensive here, for what we are paying youd expect more but it's just not possible! We went out to pie face for some food before coming back. Despite it being perhaps 8pm I was so tired, it was our 10pm really. Liam managed to get the Internet up and running so I got to have a very small catch up with a couple of people and also read up on the royal baby. Damn that little brat stealing my birthday!
After a while we got into bed with the fellowship of the rings on the iPad, I only managed for about half anhour before I was out for the count, Liam lasted perhaps half an hour more before also giving up for the night.
