Hi all,
Well it's Monday 12th and we've just dropped off our van so we're back to having just a backpack and no wheels! Oh well, we can drink more now!
From Dunedin we drove north to see the Moeraki Boulders, strange to see.. We also visited the Elephant Rocks nr Duntroon where The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe filmed Aslan's Camp recently. We then stayed in Timaru for the night before heading on to Methven for a night. Methven is dead in the Summer and hots up in the Winter because it's one of NZs biggest ski resorts. We went in the shoulder season and it was pretty dead! Tumbleweed in the road that kind of thing! However, I will always remember it as the location where I received a call from my boss at the BBC telling me that I had got myself a promotion. I didn't want to write about it in the earlier blog but I applied for a Production Managers job in April and was interviewed, by phone in the back of the campervan (!) two weeks ago. I didn't think it had gone that well but I got the job! So very pleased. It will make going back to work in November a little easier...!
From Methven we drove in to Christchurch and stopped for 2 nights there. It's a very English town with a River Avon, Cathedral and town square. Did some shopping and also went out for a celebratory meal..! We also received news that Carl and I had got work in a resort in Franz Josef starting on Tuesday (tomorrow) so we had a double celebration. Carl will be working the bar and I will work on Reception. We get a double room for only 30 pounds a week so we're looking forward to getting some extra cash in our pockets!
On Saturday we drove north to Kaikoura and booked ourselves on an afternoon Whale Watching trip... The earlier tours had seen Orcas so we were hopeful. The weather was beautiful and we set off in a very fancy all purpose boat which went very very fast and left your stomach in the air with every bump! Our first sighting was of a large group of Dusky Dolphins. Then we headed to the co-ordinates where whales had been seen earlier and waited.. A large sperm whale called Tiaki popped up from the depths, having been under feeding for 45 minutes, and we took lots of photos! Then we headed off to the next co-ordinates and waited... Tono, another sperm whale came to the surface and we managed to get behind the whale so that when he decided to go back down below we got the most incredible tail shot with the camera! Photos are incredible. On the way back we caught up with the pod of dolphins but the group had dramatically increased in size and there were about 300 Common and Dusky dolphins all swimming with the boat and diving out of the water. It was amazing and one of the most incredible things we have seen so far.
Last night we stayed in Akaroa which is on the Banks Peninsula 86km south of Christchurch. It is New Zealand's only French settlement so there are lots of bakeries and French restaurants. Very quaint.
And so today we're back in Christchurch having dropped off the van and we're staying one night before catching the Tranz Scenic Railway from the East to West Coast and then a bus to Franz Josef. Not sure we're both ready to start working but it will keep us out of mischief for a while!
B and C xx
