We made our way from Wellington on the 8.30am ferry to the South Island on Wednesdsay. The ferry crossing was a bit rough but we made it ok! We drove from Picton (where the ferry port is) through Blenheim to Kaikora. We stayed in a lovely cottage motel but had to leave early this morning as we had booked on the Whale Watching tour. When we arrived at the whale centre, an information screen was giving us a "sea sickness warning" due to high winds! The trips the previous day had been cancelled so we were pleased when they boarded us on a coach to take us to the whale boat. The boat took us about 7 miles out and we waited to spot some sperm whales. And spot them we did! It was amazing, two sperm whales (called Little Nick and Thaiki) surfaced at different times and could be spotted by their blowholes on the surface of the sea. We waited about 10 to 15 mins for them to dive again. When they dive, they take a final breath and then arch their back, as they do this their tail comes up out of the water which is the photo that everyone wants. We managed to take some and I have posted a photo for you to see. It was a really wonderful sight to see! After sperm whales dive, they are down for about 40-50 minutes, so while we waited for them to do that, we went a bit further in the boat to where there were lots of dolphins which are known as Dusky dolphins. They were great! Swimming along side the boat and underneath it too. Some of them put on an acrobatics display and were jumping and flipping all over the place! After the dolphins, we went back to see the two sperm whales resurface and then it was the end of our trip. We all really enjoyed it and would have liked to have done it again!
After this, we drove to Christchurch which is where we are now, staying the the Holiday Inn (kindly organised for us by Sarah Warren). We have been on the tram ride which took us around the city and we saw some of the sights. Tomorrow we are going on the gondola and for a walk around the city.
Here are some other photos from our holiday (at last....). It takes SUCH a long time to get the photos loaded so I'm not going to be able to do many.
lots of love
Rachel, Andrew, Charles, Henry and Emma x x x x x
P.S. Congratulations to Chris and Lucy on the birth of Eleanor, and to Chris and Gilly on the birth of Rosie!
