Our Greyhound Adventure Begins!

The lights of Sydney came alive as night fell over the city creating a sprawling skyline as far as we could see. We made our way down the bridge in the dark under torch light whilst being told about the 16 deaths that incurred over the 8 year building period. Once the climb was over we got our normal clothes on and met up with Georgia, her boyfriend and some of her friends for late night pancakes at Pancakes on The Rocks (although Laura and I were the only two not to have pancakes!) and drinks in Bar 100 after. In the taxi home we encountered an Australian RBT when our taxi was pulled over for having his fog lights on. We finally made it home and off to bed ready to visit Palm Beach (the set for Home and Away) the next day.

We got up, chilled and head off to Palm Beach with Georgia and Ed meeting up with the same people we met the night before for fish n' chips and an afternoon chilling on the beach. We got back to Cassie's, being lazy we ordered a chinese, and a good one it was! 

The next day we woke up and went to Koala Park as Laura's old favourite Skippy Park has closed down. We wondered round the park seeing all the native animals of Australia including the Little Penguins we have seen through out our trip so far, the amazingly friendly Dingos before having a close encounter and photo session with a cuddly Koala. We fed some Kangaroos, luckily only the small ones as the ones in the enclosure next to the petting one had Kangaroos way bigger than us! We had a conversation with some Cockatoos and tried to catch a glimpse of the nocturnal Wombats and Echidnas. We head in to the centre of Sydney to validate our Greyhound tickets, booked our bus and spent the afternoon chilling at Cassie's. In the evening we went for an incredible meal with the Campbell family at The Pantry, a restaurant in a prime position virtual on Manly Beach. Laura had a yummy rocket and cured ham salad followed by a creamy delicious gnocchi and pumpkin dish and Charlie had perfect calamari followed by a meaty angus beef burger. We returned back to the house, packed our bags, sad to be leaving the amazing hospitality that the Campbell's had welcomed us with in their beautiful home, but it was time to move on our adventure and head up the coast to our next destination, Coffs Harbour.

After a hideous ten hour coach journey, we finally reached Coffs Harbour and found our transfer bus to Aussitel Hostel. We were given a quick tour of the local area before checking in. We wondered around town and then returned back to the hostel for a $3 sausage sizzle which was actually surprisingly nice and very filling! Whilst eating we met some fellow english called Neil and Emma. We chatted for a while swapping travelling stories and tips before heading to bed. The next day we woke up to a beautiful sunny day, thats a fair few in a row now unlike New Zealand, and went canoeing up stream with Neil, Emma and Floris (from the Netherlands) spying some excellent birdlife and taking in the scenery. We then had some lunch and played some volleyball in the Hostel pool before wandering down to the harbour pier, which was recommended to jump off. Neil and Charlie jumped off but the girls weren't so keen. After hanging around contemplating jumping again a man suddenly shouted dolphin, at first we no idea what he said but following where he was pointing we saw it, at least two if not three were in the bay swimming around catching fish, we ran for our cameras taking a few shots then we both ran down the steps in to the sea to try and swim with them but they were too far out. Eventually we got out as they seemed to have disappeared. We walked further up the pier looking for them and spotted a couple of turtles surfacing for air then heading back in to the depths, thinking this was a real treat! Just as we were about to head back to the hostel the dolphins reappeared, this time Emma and Laura jumped in hoping for a chance to get close to them. After a while the dolphin got within metres of them whilst Charlie was snapping away with his camera, lucky enough to get a shot of the dolphin with its head just out the water with a fish in its mouth! Just after this the dolphin swam under Laura and Emma before disappearing due to a large number of people swimming by. So they got out and we were just about to head off when another one appeared and Laura just couldn't resist going in one last time to catch some amazing video! We finally headed back to the Hostel to have some pizza and now we are chilling and writing this! It has been an amazing day and all we have spent is $3 each for the pizza! 

Bye Bye New Zealand, Hello Australia!

The alarm went off just in time for us to catch an amazing red sun rise and we quickly got our things together and set off to Whangaroa Harbour for our days fishing. We found our skipper, Alistair, for the day aboard Sea Fever and after a quick safety briefing we cruised out of the harbour and out to the fishing grounds way off shore. After spotting a little blue penguin and an array of sea dwelling birds we finally reached a fishing spot. We cast our lines and immediately the lines dipped as fish were bitting, but the fish that were bitting were the small mouthed blue mau mau too small to be hooked but sly enough to steal bait after bait! Finally, Charlie latched on to a fish, reeling in an edible sized snapper. The skipper Alistair caught another before Charlie brought in another, there wasn't so much luck for Laura as she hopelessly pulled up her line for the millionth time with no bait and no fish (I was worried she was hating it!). After a quiet time with little action apart from Alistair pulling in some creatures of the deep including a giant squid and some ugly looking fish, Laura finally pulled in her first snapper of the day, and another…and another, and one more in quick succession. The biggest excitement of Charlie's day was whilst getting untangled from Laura's line the line zipped away at a rate of knots and suddenly ping and the line snapped. Alistair informed us that it was probably a kingfish or barracuda and would probably of taken at least twenty minutes to bring in. Charlie was gutted, of course the big fish always gets away! 

We carried on, trying a few different spots to hunt down and find the illusive big snapper. After a slow patch as the tides changed suddenly both Laura and Charlie had something on the line at the same time. Charlie's rod was bending as if a monster was on the line as Laura casually reeled in her line, but it turned out that Charlie's was an averaged sized Grandfather Hapuku with a large mouth that makes you feel like you are reeling in a beast, and Laura had latched on to a nicely sized snapper. The highlight of the day, the biggest fish of the day, by far, even Alistair was excited by it! After catching a few more fish it was time to head back to harbour, being followed by a deep sea fishing boat that had caught a huge blue marlin and was taking it in to be weighed. We waited around to see how heavy it was, in awe of the size of it, and shocked when we saw the reading as 243.5kgs! Alistair kindly filleted our fish and told us of a fish n' chip shop that would cook it for us. So we swiftly headed to the chippy and got it cooked. We got back to the hostel eagerly awaiting to taste the fish that we pulled out of the sea only a few hours ago, and what a treat it was, a nice meaty white fish, way tastier than you're standard cod and chips at home!  

Before

After

We woke up the next day to a standard NZ summers day…rain! We decided we would head across to the west coast, before travelling back east to a second to last destination in NZ, in search of the giant Kauri trees despite the damp weather. We visited the tallest Kauri tree in NZ, called Tane Mahuta or God of the Forest, measuring 14 metres in circumference and 52 metres tall. We trekked on through the rain to Mangawhai Heads and checked in to the Coastal Cow backpackers where we cooked up the rest of our fish in to a thai green curry. The rain continued to fall the next day as we made our way to Auckland for our final few hours in NZ, after driving round in the torrential rain we finally found our hostel and unloaded the mountain of things we had accumulated in the car to pack our bags up. With all our packing done, we watched a film and slept ready to get up early the next day for our flight to Sydney. We woke up early, dropped of the car and checked in for our flight to Australia. We were both very sad to be leaving the amazing, stunning country of NZ after the most incredible five weeks, but we were equally excited to be moving on to the next country and the next stage in our adventure! 

We arrived to blue skies and sunshine in Sydney and were greeted by Cassie in arrivals. Cassie took us for a quick tour of Sydney and straight for a highly appreciated lunch in a great restaurant by the beach. We then went to Cassie's house, met Moose the Great Dane, Frou the Pomeranian and Reggae the Rag Doll and were taken aback by the stunning views! We then spent the afternoon lazing around Manly, chilling on the slightly more crowded than NZ beach. The evening was filled with a meaty BBQ and drinks catching up with Laura's old friend Georgia from Singapore, her brother James and her boyfriend Ed. We woke up on the Saturday and spent the day on the Campbell's barge before preparing for our Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb! 

We went across to the city on the ferry from Manly and found our way to Bridge Climb centre, checked in and got geared up in the bridge climb equipment. Equipped with fetching boiler suits, head torches, harnesses and headphones and briefed on the climb we set off through the tunnel and in to the heart of the bridge, with our guide Phil telling us about the history of the bridge and the construction. After walking along the hanging gantries below the bridge, which sat only 50 metres above the ground seemed miles down considering the Kauri tree we saw in NZ was over 50 metres tall! We then climbed up passing through the traffic and on to the upper arch. We then began our ascent to the summit of the bridge with stunning views over the harbour and the Opera House it was photo opportunity 1 of 5, we weren't allowed to take our camera's up so it was a quick snap from our guide. As the sun set over the harbour the sky went through an array of colours from blues to orange, and through to a deep blood red. Probably the best sunset we have seen through out our trip. 

Chilling in Northern New Zealand

The weather cleared just enough for us to catch one of Taupos famous sunsets, not to the extent that we hoped for, but it was still worth rushing down to the lake side after suddenly realising that the clouds had decided to part. We awoke to yet another cloudy day and headed off further north stopping by the famous Huka Falls where water from Lake Taupo is squeezed through a narrow hard rock gorge and down in to a pool at around 200.000 litres a second! We then passed through Rotorua, unfortunately missing out on touring the well known geysers and thermal pools due to that ever so familiar rain! After having a quick lunch we carried on towards Karangahake Gorge, described as a rugged but beautiful gorge passing more thermal hotspots. Upon arrival to our hostel, The Golden Owl, we were advised by the manager to take a short walk across the road and in to the old gold mine. Most of the buildings were completely gone with only the concrete foundations remaining, however the train track and the maze of mining tunnels still remained. After passing in to the tunnels beyond the light of the outside world armed only with a small fading torch we looked up to the star like spread of glowworms, something we considered paying a fair few dollars to see back on the South Island. After a cheeky exploration, and Laura not wanting to head any further down the tunnels we headed out to the welcome light and warmth of sunlight which was an especially nice surprise as it was raining when we entered the tunnels! We drove to Pearoa, famous for its mineral water and the drink made with it, Lemon & Paeroa which will be familiar to anyone that has visited New Zealand, and bought some needed supplies, before heading home, cooking and sleeping.

We woke up to a nice sunny day, and headed off to Coromandel, a great drive up the peninsula with stunning views of an ancient volcanic landscape and brilliant blue seas. We had lots of time to kill before checking in to our hostel so we decided to drive along the well known, in NZ, 309 road where we saw Stu and his wild pigs, of which one was 2 weeks old and another only 3 days old….Laura was in her element! Further along the road we visited a Kauri Tree Grove, the largest being around 600 years old and yet another waterfall! We then explored further finding some virtually deserted long white sandy beaches and went for an endless stroll along the beautiful beach. Most of the Coromandel Peninsula, beyond the well established towns is accessible by gravel road only so a lot of the driving was bumpy gravel roads! We then went to go and check in to our pre-booked hostel at Tui Lodge, but the manager was sure we didn't have a booking, we reminded her of the conversation we had over the phone and she soon realised that she had double booked our room. She came up with a solution, her friend owns a b&b across the road and we were subsequently upgraded to a night in the b&b with a super comfy king size bed and en suite bathroom! LUXURY!

After a comfortable nights sleep we awoke to fine weather again so decided we would go and explore the north of the peninsula and check out the great coastal walk. We made our way north, through Colville, an old town, with a general store and not much else and on to the gravel roads of the north of Coromandel. We stopped off along our way to explore a rocky beach of the west coast, rich in semi-precious stones, supposedly, and looked back south to see a wall of grey cloud and rain heading up the coastline. We raced back to the car and decided it may well be sunny on the eastern side of the peninsula so trekked across to the east side via a long and twisting gravel road to some sun, after reaching a nice bay and deciding it was time for lunch we then looked behind us to see, yep, you guessed it, rain! (Photos below show the view in front of and behind the car!). We then jumped back in the car, thinking it was best to get back to the Hostel as Siri II (the golden Daihatsu Sirion) may not make it back on the gravel roads in a rain storm. We spent the rest of the day getting some washing done and watching the worst film on the planet! (Laura's great choice of Bridesmaids, even she didn't like it!) And booking some hostels for the Northland.

Infront of the Car

Behind the Car

We woke up and got off early due to our marathon journey ahead of us through Auckland and on to the gateway to the northern tip of NZ. Our destination was the highly rated Little Earth Lodge a few kms out of Whangarei right by Abbey Caves. A steep drive down, past their two miniature ponies, Tom & Jerry and a warm welcome from their rescue dog Muttley to a Grand Designs style "semi" eco-lodge we knew we would like it! "Semi" eco-lodge due to their plans of wind/solar energy in the future but already an efficient lodge with a few clever energy saving characteristics. We still had a fair few hours of sunlight left so decided to go and explore the Abbey Caves, a network of caves created mainly by water running through the limestone rock formations. We geared up in caving shoes, head torches and helmets and set off on our way, unguided, as you are meant to do apparently! It took us a while to find the first cave, hidden by bushes, but eventually found it and lowered ourselves down the slippery rock in to the opening of Organ Cave. We hesitantly and slowly made our way in to the pitch black, jumping as a crayfish moved in the murky water below us. As we moved further into the cave it became apparent that we weren't going to get anywhere unless we got wet. it took us a while to gather up the courage to pass through the brown water, coming up past our waists with little more than a few centimetres of space above us at times. We ventured further and further in to the cave past impressive stalagmites and stalactites past vast caverns and up rushing waterfalls. A moment that Laura will never forget is stepping in to what she thought was a small puddle, but turning out to be a deep hole, right up to her shoulders, clinging on with her finger tips, telling me afterwards that she thought Gollum was sucking her down! The reason we went in to the caves was to see the glowworms, which we had already seen in Karangahake mines, but these were a hundred times more spectacular. Thousands of them lining the roof of the caves projecting an image similar to the night sky, ever so present in NZ. The other caves were much the same with their own impressive features and characteristics, and in the middle cave we looked up at one point to see the distant light of the outside world which must have been 50 metres above us. We clambered out of the last cave, emotionally and physically exhausted and headed back to the Lodge for a well earned nights rest!

The next day we woke up to yet more sun! Gladly as Lonely Planet mentions that the Northland only receives an average of 7 days of rain a month during the summer. We carried on up further north, stopping by the most photographed waterfall in NZ, visited a few of the stunning beaches this area has to offer, climbing a mountain to reach Lonely Planets recommended giant rock pool, Mermaid pool and had amazing fish and chips and finally reached Kerikeri Farm Hostel, our bed for 3 nights. We have spent today touring the local area, our first stop off being Charlie's Rock, a must see for obvious reasons! Yet another NZ waterfall, this one is famous for the locals using the deep pool it has created below as a swimming hole and often jump off the small cliffs that surround it. Apparently parts of this pool are so deep they don't quite know how deep it actually is. Before grabbing some lunch and heading to Whangaroa Harbour to book an all day fishing trip for tomorrow. We spent the afternoon lazing on Matauri Bay beach, with a satisfying swim in the crystal clear sea and touring a few more local bays, finishing with an amble along the peachy pink sands of Tauranga Bay beach. We are both looking forward to our fishing trip tomorrow so will keep you posted soon! 

Windy Wellington to Great Lake Taupo!

On the Friday we woke up early and headed down to Te Papa, the national museum in Wellington. We spent a few hours in the museum, learning about the geological forces that shaped, and continue to shape New Zealand, from the volcanic nature of the fault, to earthquakes and glaciers. We then spent a while looking at the different native and introduced animals found in NZ as well as the famous colossal squid caught of the coast of NZ and donated to the museum. We then passed through the section dedicated to Maori culture and history before deciding it was time to get a shop done and head on to our next destination. We stocked up on noodles and other healthy dry foods…NOT! And headed on to our over night stop Paraparaumu, a small seaside town an hour north of Wellington. We arrived, settled in and went for a nice long walk along the beach, astonished by the size and amount of driftwood washed up. Whole trees with rocks embedded in to their roots had been washed down by powerful rivers and then washed up ashore, along with all sorts of shells and other sea life remnants, which Laura enjoyed photographing. We cooked up a bolognese, which felt like a treat after finishing up what we had left in the South Island and having nothing but kiwis to eat the night before and headed to bed in preparation for our sundowner horse trek the next day at River Valley Lodge.

 

We headed off to River Valley Lodge arriving perfectly on time for our 3 o'clock check-in with a drive through NZ's worst and finest weather all mixed in to one! We were so glad that we decided to stay at the lodge rather than in the nearby town as it was a fair drive to the lodge and the lodge itself was in an incredible setting next to a river enclosed by steep valley walls and varying shades of green of grass and forest land. It was then a waiting game for the ride as it was meant to be at five, then six, then six thirty, eventually we were told that the stable girls had finally arrived back and we could head up to the stables to meet our steads. We were met by a nice English girl called Lizzie who had been working there for four years and would be our guide for the evening. Laura was introduced to Honcho a cow coloured horse (insert correct term here Heather or Katie!) with one blue eye and one brown eye and Charlie met Honey the mother of the group. With a quick lesson in a new style of riding with no bits or anything in the horses mouth (again correct term?!) and we were on our way in to the hills of this picturesque part of New Zealand. The trek was through a working deer, sheep and cattle farm and we were met by all of these along our way, the most entertaining being a hyperactive calf trying to act like a big bad bull, and the scariest being confronted by not one but two real big bad bulls! We continued our trek up and around different valleys until the sun began to set, Lizzie was hoping for us that the flat topped mountain would turn red as it had done all the time last season, but not once this season and for once the weather was on our side and the mountain turned a bright and deep red, an incredible sight! As we had begun our trek so late Lizzie asked if we would be comfortable riding under moonlight, and we very much obliged as we were enjoying ourselves so much. We stopped for our bubbles, cheese and crackers as the last of the light faded away before getting back on to the horses in the dark with no sign of the moon! We then made our way back to the stables under starlight and ended an amazing experience ready for a quick beer in the lodge and then bed! 

Our next stop was a short drive along Desert Road, through flat desolate plains towards Turangi and the Tongariro National Park and arrived at the hostel with a lot of the day still ahead. We decided, due to the sore legs from riding that it was justifiable to chill out and watch a film or two whilst getting some washing done along with the fact we had a 19.4km hike planned the next day! After an early night, praying for good weather in order to catch the amazing views promised by one of the worlds greatest one day hikes we woke up to, yep, you guessed it…RAIN! With little else to do and a lift to the beginning of the trek already planned we continued on and did the Tongario Alpine Crossing over a still active volcanic in what can be said as the worst conditions to do it in! With sideways rain and next to know visibility until the last three kilometres, we can't really say much other than we only saw a bit of volcanic rock, smelt some sulphur, got very wet and arrived at the end with very sore and tired legs! BUT we did it, in 5 and a half hours, well under the guided 7-8 hours and we are glad that we did, with a great sense of achievement! After trying to explain rugby to some Americans we headed off to bed.

We woke up pretty much unable to move stiff from the hips down after our marathon trek the day before, packed our bags and set off for a scenic drive to Taupo. We stopped off at some naturally occurring thermal pools, which apparently bubble away at 110 degrees celsius accompanied by mud pools blowing mysterious characters up out of the chocolate resembling gloop and visited Kinloch for a view of the the Great Lake Taupo. The reverse in New Zealand's weather is apparent yet again with it not deciding whether to rain or clear so we are currently residing in our hostel equipped with a jacuzzi and a swimming pool planning our last 10 days in this beautiful country.

3566 kilometres later....South Island complete!

It was sad to say goodbye to Queenstown after a fun and expensive few days of activities. However, our next destination, and the drive to it was something to get excited about. The drive would take us over the highest sealed road in New Zealand past Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea, towards the west coast and on to Franz Josef. State Highway 6 was our best drive yet. With perfect blue skies and scenery that was out of this world it was hard to keep our eyes on the road. (Don't worry Kate, we did arrive safe and sound!) The majority of the drive was winding through towering bush covered mountains, waterfalls galore, wide meandering rivers and glacial valleys, however as New Zealand is known for, drive for thirty seconds and the scenery changed in to flat plains, with the odd, out of place mound of rock reminding us of what we had just left behind. Further up the west coast after more stunning views we reached Glacier Country! We arrived in Franz Josef and to our backpackers where we were booked in to the Love Shack (the cheapest and only room they had so we were a little apprehensive) which turned out to be an old caravan decked out in deep red and blue velvet…very tasteful…NOT! Needless to stay we managed to get some well needed rest before our full day hike on the Franz Josef Glacier.  

We woke up to the standard pitter patter of rain as like clockwork for our days of activities so far in New Zealand (apart from Queenstown), but weren't down hearted and prepared in good spirits. This was felt by the Maori gods as the sun broke through the clouds as we walked up the valley towards the terminal face of the glacier. A steep hike up an almost sheer cliff face to the start of the ice and we were ready to fit on our crampons. After a few wobbly minutes of getting used to the crampons, we were off and on the glass like ice. The ever changing ice-scape (over a metre of movement a day) meant that most of the tracks and steps we were led across were made that very morning. We were both amazed by the obscure shapes created by the mighty force of the flowing ice, especially when we did a little ice caving in the first of many caves and tunnels. A chute created by the melting ice large enough for us to stand in and a worm tunnel resembling a flume were definitely the highlights! As we moved further up the glacier through blue crevasses and deep cracks we stopped on the flattest part of the glacier for a surreal lunch on a mellow plateau of smooth ice before the second aggressive looking terminal face. After lunch we continued up in to the ice maze, the most blue ice of the hike before a trek back down. Our trip wouldn't be complete without rain, it seems to follow us as everyone else we meet praises the weather, so the trek down was a wet and slippery one and we were both relieved to take off the crampons and tend to our (Laura's) blisters. It was an incredible day, and we both felt a real sense of achievement looking back at the glacier and seeing how far we had trekked. We had little energy left so a quick meal and bed readying ourselves for the journey further up the west coast to our eco-getaway. 

Another sunny day for travelling made the drive another one to remember as we continued along the State Highway 6 with the pancake rocks, and other moments of stunning scenery. We avoided dawdling as we wanted to make the most of the highly rated Beaconstone Ecolodge. Upon arrival we were excited to see we were in "The Hut" our very own mini lodge looking over the valley carpeted with thick native bush. After sorting out and settling in, not to mention checking out the compost loos we met Grea, the mastermind behind this incredible and inspiring lodge, who suggested we go for a walk down to the river along the home made track for a swim in the lagoon. After a 20 minute battle through the thick bush we finally reached "the beach," more like a small spit of sand and decided to give the swimming a miss after crossing the river and realising just how cold it was! So instead Laura sunbathed and Charlie went for a little adventure further down the river with his camera. We trekked back to the lodge and celebrated our one year with strawberry infused sparkling wine (cringe but had to be mentioned) before cooking a meal and heading to bed in our king size bed! It was virtually impossible to get Laura out of bed in the morning because she "slept the best she'd slept…EVER." 

On route to the marine-mammal capital of the world, we made a quick stop in Nelson to pick up some five-dollar flip flops for Charlie and continued on towards the famous wine-producing region of Marlborough, where we spotted many familiar wines (Ian and Heather) including their favourite Oyster Bay as well as Cloudy Bay, Wither Hills and The Ned. Past the beautiful vineyards, we drove over the hills and eventually reached the bright blue waters of the east coast. This was yet another journey full of many distractions as we continuously watched the ocean in the hope of spotting the spout from a cetacean. Our wish was not granted quite so quickly, but we were lucky enough to see yet another huge colony of New Zealand Fur Seals and their pups. We arrived at the well known hostel called "The Lazy Shag" which we were delighted to find had an ensuite bathroom (a change from the dark and cold outside toilets that seemed to have become a norm). We spent the afternoon relaxing with iPods and a kindle (thank you Lloyd, Kelly and Diddles!) in preparation for our VERY early and cold start the next day. 

We awoke disgustingly early at 4.30 am and headed on down to "Dolphin Encounter" in the pitch black for 5.15. After checking in we, blurry-eyed, geared up in uber-tight wet suits for our morning wake up call in the freezing-cold Pacific Ocean. We were transported down to our boat Dalphinadae and briefed on how to dance and communicate with the dolphins. We were still in a semi-dazed state as we watched the sun break into view, creating a magnificent spectrum of warm colours across the sky but then, a flutter of excitement as we saw a small pod of dolphins cross our wake performing acrobatics right behind us. "No no we are looking for a slightly larger pod than that", over the boat speaker. We were then called into action by our guide as we approached a pod of TWO HUNDRED dusky dolphins! We sat on the back of the boat waiting for the horn to blow, giving us the signal to jump in the Ocean. It took a few moments to adjust to the cold of the water but we quickly forgot about the temperature and the depth of the water (1600m) as we were greeted by the playful and inquisitive Dusky Dolphins. We both experienced the magic of catching a dolphins eye and have him circle you in a friendly gesture before darting off as if it were a game. The pod passed and we returned to the boat absolutely buzzing and eager to enter the water again. We were lucky enough to have five separate dives, each even better than the one before. At one point Charlie had over 20 dolphins pass by him in a matter of seconds and amazingly managed to catch it on video whilst Laura tried to make friends with them. We were gutted to be dragged out the water, changed into our warm clothes and had a much needed hot chocolate before a final chance to get photographs of the dolphins above the water, and we were also joined by one lonesome, not-so-common Common Dolphin.

With the whole day still ahead of us we were too tempted to say no to seeing Kaikoura from the sky and the chance to see the third largest whale on earth, the Sperm Whale. Our pilot, who had a great knack of making it sound like we WERE going to crash and we WEREN'T going to see whales, tricked us as within moments of getting over the sea Laura spotted a teenage male sperm whale building up its oxygen levels at the surface before showing his fluke and diving down 1.5 km into the Kaikoura canyon to pray on giant squid. We were even more fortunate when the pilot spotted a second sperm whale, meaning that the majority of our half hour plane ride was spent observing and not searching for whales! After a nap and a much needed subway, bedtime soon arrived.

Our last day on the South Island was spent retracing our tracks through the Marlborough vineyards back towards Picton. Here we checked into our hostel, had a round of crazy golf in the beautiful sunshine (which Laura won) and watched a film. We woke up extra early to make sure we would not miss the ferry, said our farewells to our little white Siri (our beloved white Daihatsu Sirion) and boarded the ferry for the most scenic ferry ride in the world, through Queen Charlotte Sound. We arrived three hours later in Wellington, on the North Island, and picked up our not-so-cool faded gold sirion. We spent the afternoon wandering around Wellington in the sun and are looking forward to beginning our North Island adventures, starting with the Te Papa Museum tomorrow.