Saturday was pretty wet and wild, but we were lucky with our trip to Kaikoura. We left the rain of Christchurch behind and drove over the port hills. At the Hilltop we stoopped for a spectacular view of.............clouds. We were high up in the clouds and couldnt quite see Akaroa through the mist. As we drove down out of the clouds the weather cleared up a lot and by the time we reached Akaroa it was still cool and cloudy, but there was no rain.
We arrived at the wharf 10 minutes before our harbour cruise left - perfect timing! (Thanks Hamish, great driving) A lot of the students came to Akaroa especially to see Dolphins, and we were all hopeful as we boarded the boat. Andy has done six tours with Hello New Zealand, and really wanted to see dolphins, as he had missed out on seeing Whales in kaikoura. Andy wasn't disappointed, we saw the Hectors Dolphin on the cruise. They are very small (1.3 metres) and very playful. They came close to the boat and swam along side us.
Seeing the dolphins was a definite highlight, but was also saw alot of other wildlife on the tour as well. We saw a lot of seabirds, seals, and even a penguin swimming! It was coold and the wind was blowing alot, but the animals didnt mind at all, they are used to living in the wild.
After the cruise we had plenty of spare time for lunch and to explore around Akaroa. Akaroa is very small, but very beautiful. It is right on the edge of the sea and all the cafes and shops face out onto the sea. Very romantic! It is also famous for its seafood, and has one of the most famous fish and chip shops in New Zealand. This was where most people chose to have their lunch. I had a big piece of fish, ahot dog and some chips. The chips were very very good, and the fish was fresh straight from the sea. I ate too much and couldn't finish my hotdog.
The weather after the cruise turned bad, and it started to rain alot. We had a nice long lunch and stayed dry in all the interesting art shops. Then we drove back to Christchurch, but on the way back we made one more stop at the cheese factory.
Most people hadn't seen cheese being made before, and the video they showed about it was very interesting. They were just finishing making cheese for the day so we watched the workers in the factory cleaning up. And then a brought a lot of cheese to take home for my dinner!!!
This week we are getting ready for our Mt Cook and Tekapo trip. Can't wait to see the mountains again :)
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Chocolate Penguins
The nights are cool, but we are still having beautiful sunny days -perfect for touring!
I have always associated Dunedin with Speights, Jeff Wilson and drunken students, but really it is so much more as we discovered on our tour there.
The first stop was the Cadburys Chocolate factory. This is always popular with the women on the tour,and the ladies from Thailand and Korea were excited as we arrived. We also had four me from Saudi Arabia with us and they were just as excited to visit the Chocolate factory.
Everybody enjoyed the tour very much and we all came out of the shop with lots of chocolate treats.
Baldwin street is the steepest street in the world, and this was next stop on our itinerary It was a hard walk to the top but it was worth it, we got some very nice photos.
After a quick lunch we left Dunedin and went to the peninsula to see some of Otagos famous wildlife. We were visiting the Yellow-eyed penguin colony but as we were a little early we had time to go to the end of the peninsula to see the Albatross. We could see many flying in, it was amazing.
We only saw three penguins but they were very cute. By the time we finished it was getting a bit cold and dark so we went back to Dunedin for a well deserved hot meal and cup of tea.
On Sunday some of us went out to see Larnach castle, while the rest of us went to tunnel beach. Tunnel beach is my favourite place to visit in Dunedin. It is little beach that you have to walk 30 minutes to get to, then go down a short tunnel. Its very private, and very beautiful. Well worth the visit.
All in all it was a very good trip. We were very tired when we got back to Christchurch, it was very hard to get up on Monday morning.
Next week, dolphins at Akaroa!
I have always associated Dunedin with Speights, Jeff Wilson and drunken students, but really it is so much more as we discovered on our tour there.
The first stop was the Cadburys Chocolate factory. This is always popular with the women on the tour,and the ladies from Thailand and Korea were excited as we arrived. We also had four me from Saudi Arabia with us and they were just as excited to visit the Chocolate factory.
Everybody enjoyed the tour very much and we all came out of the shop with lots of chocolate treats.
Baldwin street is the steepest street in the world, and this was next stop on our itinerary It was a hard walk to the top but it was worth it, we got some very nice photos.
After a quick lunch we left Dunedin and went to the peninsula to see some of Otagos famous wildlife. We were visiting the Yellow-eyed penguin colony but as we were a little early we had time to go to the end of the peninsula to see the Albatross. We could see many flying in, it was amazing.
We only saw three penguins but they were very cute. By the time we finished it was getting a bit cold and dark so we went back to Dunedin for a well deserved hot meal and cup of tea.
On Sunday some of us went out to see Larnach castle, while the rest of us went to tunnel beach. Tunnel beach is my favourite place to visit in Dunedin. It is little beach that you have to walk 30 minutes to get to, then go down a short tunnel. Its very private, and very beautiful. Well worth the visit.
All in all it was a very good trip. We were very tired when we got back to Christchurch, it was very hard to get up on Monday morning.
Next week, dolphins at Akaroa!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Kaikoura
On the weekend we had a very nice tour to Hanmer and Kaikoura. It was a small group but a good mixture of students. We had a Mother and daughter from Malaysia, a Brazillian,a Thai girl, a Swiss student, and Kazuyoshi from Japan.
Kazuyoshi was very interesting. he was 71 years old and retired. He has come to New Zeland to improve his english. We spoke alot during our two days awa, to help his conversational english, but I think I learnt more from him than he learnt from me. Kazuyoshi particully enjoyed sitting on the beach at Kaikoura and the smell of the sea. Very different from Tokyo!!
The first day we went Hanmer where most people went swimming in the hot springs. Virginia and Vivian are from Malaysia and have lived in New Zealand for five years. They decided to go Horse trekking instead of the hot springs.
The ride to the horse trekking farm was very exciting, very bumpy ride in the van and we had to drive through the river several times. It was a wild and exciting place to be. The horse trek farm was surrounded by beautiful hills and forest. It was more beautiful than I could of imagined. Virginia and Vivian went horse trekking for an hour, and you should of seen their faces when they came back, so happy, both of them couldn't stop smiling.
Virginia had ridden a horse before but it was the first time for Vivian. She said she wasn't scared at all and definitely do it again.
Sivana and Julia goto school together at Languages International. Julia has only been in New Zealand for four days and she was very enthusiastic about seeing some New Zealand scenery. Both her and Sivana loved the Lord Of The Rings films, and this was one of the reasons they chose to come to New Zealand. They were very happy to see amazing mountain scenery from Hanmer to Kaikoura, but they both agreed the highlight was going Whalewatching on Sunday, when they saw two whales up close. Amazing!!
Pinttira has been on 3 tours with me know, she is enjoying seeing New Zealand and travelling with us very much. For her seeing the Dolphins was the highlight. She was a little sick on the boat but she still managed to take many photos of the dolphins. I know she had a good time because she said she would be joining us on the Wine tour this weekend!
This week I'm off to see penguins in Dunedin, but thats a story for next week. See you then!
Kazuyoshi was very interesting. he was 71 years old and retired. He has come to New Zeland to improve his english. We spoke alot during our two days awa, to help his conversational english, but I think I learnt more from him than he learnt from me. Kazuyoshi particully enjoyed sitting on the beach at Kaikoura and the smell of the sea. Very different from Tokyo!!
The first day we went Hanmer where most people went swimming in the hot springs. Virginia and Vivian are from Malaysia and have lived in New Zealand for five years. They decided to go Horse trekking instead of the hot springs.
The ride to the horse trekking farm was very exciting, very bumpy ride in the van and we had to drive through the river several times. It was a wild and exciting place to be. The horse trek farm was surrounded by beautiful hills and forest. It was more beautiful than I could of imagined. Virginia and Vivian went horse trekking for an hour, and you should of seen their faces when they came back, so happy, both of them couldn't stop smiling.
Virginia had ridden a horse before but it was the first time for Vivian. She said she wasn't scared at all and definitely do it again.
Sivana and Julia goto school together at Languages International. Julia has only been in New Zealand for four days and she was very enthusiastic about seeing some New Zealand scenery. Both her and Sivana loved the Lord Of The Rings films, and this was one of the reasons they chose to come to New Zealand. They were very happy to see amazing mountain scenery from Hanmer to Kaikoura, but they both agreed the highlight was going Whalewatching on Sunday, when they saw two whales up close. Amazing!!
Pinttira has been on 3 tours with me know, she is enjoying seeing New Zealand and travelling with us very much. For her seeing the Dolphins was the highlight. She was a little sick on the boat but she still managed to take many photos of the dolphins. I know she had a good time because she said she would be joining us on the Wine tour this weekend!
This week I'm off to see penguins in Dunedin, but thats a story for next week. See you then!
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