"The Land of the Long White Cloud": Part II

Once on board the Interislander, we made the 3 hour trip from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island, and in so doing, we passed through the Marlborough Sounds (pictured above). The Sounds protect the northern most end of the South Island and they reminded Callie of parts of Alaska: rugged and uninhabited. Once arriving in Picton, which is little more than a small fishing town that is also a terminal for the ferry, we picked up our rental car (a red Toyota Corolla hatchback) and made the drive to Kaikoura. We stopped in a little town called Blenhim for dinner, but since it was dark already, we could only make out the vague impression of our surroundings. The road was winding and narrow in places, but since I was already an expert on driving on the wrong side of the road (see the post on Adelaide and the Barossa Valley), we were able to arrive in Kaikoura without incident.

Kaikoura, literally meaning "crayfish" (lobster) in Maori, is a small resort town on the northeastern corner of the South Island and is famous for the abundant marine wildlife that inhabit the area. Again, we arrived late, so we weren't able to see anything, but when we woke the next morning, the picture above is what greeted us out our window. At this point, although Callie and I certainly had enjoyed Wellington, we instantly loved New Zealand and couldn't wait to see what else it had to offer. We stayed at a place called The Fairways at Ocean Ridge, which is a real estate development with a series of apartments that are rented out to tourists like us. We had breakfast in the morning and made our way into the town before our whale watching encounter after lunch.

 

The town of Kaikoura isn't much to write home about: there are some small retail shops and restaurants but not much else (although there was a 9 hole putt putt course that we did take advantage of). For the most part, Callie and I found ourselves looking at the snow-capped mountains and the deep-blue of the ocean. Callie said the color was like that crayon color "Cerulean"- if that is helpful. But people don't really come to Kaikoura to see the town, they come for the incredible marine life that lives along the coast. We visited a colony of NZ Fur Seals that lives at the south end of the town, and we were shocked to discover Blue Ferry Penguins alongside the road.  We have deer and possum (that's how they spell oppossum) on the side of the road in Alabama, but they have penguins on the side of the road in NZ. 

Anyway, we had planned to go out to see the Giant Sperm Whales that frequent the waters off Kaikoura in the afternoon, but since the whales were outside the tour's operating area, we took a Coastal Wildlife Tour instead. The reason the whales visit is because there is a 3,000 foot oceanic trench just a couple of hundred yards off the shore where warm equatorial waters mix with cold waters coming from Antarctica and thus provide an incredible volume of nutrients for sea life in the area. On our tour we saw fur seals, lots of sea birds- including the Wandering Albatross, which has the largest wingspan of any bird on the planet, and dusky dolphins. These dolphins travel in pods between 100-300, and they are very playful and sociable. The would do flips and jumps and one even seemed to have a great time splashing the people riding on the bow of our boat. While it was disappointing that we didn't get to see any of the whales, it was still a great opportunity to be close to some of New Zealand's incredible wildlife. 

    
After our time on the water, we returned to Kaikoura in time for dinner, enjoying the sun as it set across the mountains. The next morning was Easter, and we attended an early morning service at a small Anglican church where we lowered the average age of the congregation considerably. After church, we had a late breakfast and then headed south towards Christchurch, the "most English of cities outside England." 

"The Land of the Long White Cloud": Part I

Over this past week, Callie and I were on Easter Break, and in order to take advantage of our time off, we decided to visit New Zealand.  We traveled the country for roughly eleven days, and over that time, we concluded that there was simply too much to say in just one post. As a result, we wanted to write about our trip in increments. What follows is a reflection on our time in New Zealand, a journey in the "land of the long white cloud." 

We began our 11 day journey through New Zealand in "Windy Wellington," the country's capital and second-largest city.  Its nickname became very evident as our plane attempted to land safely, but looking out the window, we knew we were in for a treat.  Wellington is located on the southern tip of the North Island and is home to the Te Papa National Museum, the first place we ventured after our arrival. 

 The museum is designed to present the geologic, natural, and native history of New Zealand, and its signature exhibit is the world's only preserved giant squid.  We discovered how the convergence of the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates have created the mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, and, of course, earthquakes in New Zealand.  Additionally, we learned that the country is home to numerous unique bird species such as the kiwi and other flightless fowl, including the 9-foot tall, 450 lb. giant moa, which is now extinct.  These flightless birds flourished in the absence of predators for centuries because New Zealand broke away from Gondwana, the supercontinent, before land mammals had evolved.  But Wilson will have more on subjects such as these in future posts. 

The following morning we rode Wellington's historic cable car up the hill (see first photo) for a lovely view of the city and a visit to the botanical gardens.  Just like Australia, New Zealand seems to have an abundance of green space throughout its cities, and Wellington is no exception.  Though we could have wandered along paths in the gardens for hours, we decided just to hit the highlights, such as the enormous rose garden pictured below.  After our botanical trek, we sought rejuvenation at Sweet Mother's Kitchen, which just happened to serve down home Creole cookin' straight out of N'awlins.  (Sidenote: Of course we ordered the cornbread - I haven't eaten cornbread in a year!  They don't even sell cornmeal at the grocery store over here.)  

Anyway, our time in Wellington drew to a close as we ventured over to the ferry passenger terminal and awaited our call to board the Interislander, which transported us across the Cook Strait over to the South Island.