HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONSTER

As the Monster already posted, we had a marathon day yesterday driving from Wanaka to Kaikoura. We took it in turns to drive (5 hours each) along twisty, winding roads that were often bordered by a steep cliff edge on one side. It was so nice to get back to Kaikoura. It is a beautiful place. The room in the White Morph Motel wasn't as nice as our first room, we mightn't have liked it so much if we had stayed there first off. It made it easier to leave this morning. We got a great welcome in the White Morph Restaurant. They wanted to hear all about our adventures and asked if we had met the rich dairy farmers. They had their Christmas decorations up and it looked very festive. Today is the Monster's birthday, and unfortunately we spent most of it travelling. The weather in the South Island was hot and sunny, about 23 degrees. It is the first time the Monster has had a hot sunny day on her birthday and it is the first day off she has had on her birthday for a while (excluding weekends). We popped out to the seal colony before we left Kaikoura and lots of seals came over to say happy birthday. It was lovely. Then we hopped in Yari for the last leg of our journey in that wonderful car. It took about two hours to Picton, which makes 3400km we have travelled in Yari since getting the car on the 12th November. It took 3 hours to cross to the North Island, Wellington being our port of call. The crossing was fine, but they had the world's most boring television programmes on to entertain us. Wellington is very different to what we have encountered before. It is a big city, much more like a European city and very populated. We have probably seen more people tonight than we have in our entire stay in the South Island. I prefer the south island so far. We managed to get rooms in a swanky hotel (got a last minute cancellation thank God) and we are both feeling really tired. On to Auckland tomorrow. We'll leave early in the morning because it is another 10 hour drive, but probably on motorways and stuff rather than twisty roads.

Bye bye Kaikoura - Hello Nelson?

left beautiful, wonderful, interesting, friendly Kaikoura today. Stopped at the seal colony and watched, through binoculars (because the tide was in and the seals were on rocks very far away) the behaviour of the seals. It was amazing, like a wildlife on one episode. Some seals were playing in the water (I'm sure they were fishing, but they looked like they were playing, lying on their backs with their flippers in the air) while others were climbing on the rocks. These guys can move fast on land, they aren't like our seals who wobble along in a cumbersome way. Think of the sea lions in Dublin Zoo and you are getting the idea of what these fur seals are like. most of the seals were basking on the rocks, and there was an enormous bull down by the shore. Anyway, a spat broke out between two seals and after a little fight, the victor chased the other seal towards the water, where the big bull stopped them. The poor little seal in the middle was stuck between a rock and a hard place and didn't know which way to turn. Thankfully the big bull and the other aggressor started to fight, so the one in the middle could slip away, and then all the seals on the rocks joined in and jumped into the water. it was amazing.

Drove north west today. Had lunch in Blenheim in the D'Urville hotel. It is in the heart of wine country, with vineyards all around and only local wine on the list in the hotel. It was a beautiful day and we sat outside in the balcony area. There wasn't much of a view - just the back of some buildings - but the sun was warm and there was a wall of water fountain which was pleasant. Blenheim was surprisingly big, but we drove on to Nelson, which is a city. I don't like Nelson. I don't know if it is because I am tired from the day driving, or I'm hungry or what it is, but I am picking up bad vibes. Had a wander about the city to find the church for Mass tomorrow. We could have been back in dundalk. There was a group of about 5 young girls in t-towels of skirts and very high heels, laughing and falling about the place. we walked on and passed a group of hoodies lurking about the Anglican cathedral, then further travels revealed young lads with cases of beer. I don't like Nelson, I can't wait to leave.

Fearless Birds

I was wandering along the beach this morning, looking for a spot to sit and write while the Monster kayaks with fur seals, and I came upon a colony of pied shags (I tried to draw a picture to show you what they are like, but it was so bad I decided not to unleash it upon you. they look like our black shags but a little smaller and with white chests and throats). Like other NZ birds, they had no fear of me and didn't mind when I sat down near them (to show my respect, I kept about 10 foot distance) and watched them for a while. there was a collection of courting adults (the males did this really lovely thing with their throats, the females didn't seem impressed though) and juveniles. They were washing and fishing in the water, preening and drying off on the land (with that stance typical of shags and cormorants - wings outstretched) and singing to each other. A couple of red billed gulls were also washing in the water, but they kept their distance from the shags. A brave pigeon also went down to the water for a drink, much to the shags disapproval. I have never been so close to wild sea birds before, it was beautiful. I wanted to get some footage of the southern alps today, but the mist was over the mountains and hid them completely.

Meeting the great white whale

Ok, it was dark grey actually, but I couldn't pass on the allusion to Moby Dick. That's right folks, I was on the trail of sperm whales today. The day dawned bright, so the whale watching tour went ahead. There was a metre swell and a sea sickness warning. I am phobic about boats at the best of times, but this made me panic even more. We bought travel sickness tablets and duly took them, but I was in bits. As we travelled in bus to the wharf, I imagined having to jump from the harbour onto a wildly pitching boat. What's the worst that can happen? I asked myself. So, I fall in and get wet and can't swim and potentially drown - so what? I was greatly relieved when we arrived at the boat and saw it was in a nice calm dock with a really steady level gangplank and no jumping was required. I was even more relieved when I saw we had seats in a cabin and weren't required to hang on for dear life as the sea spray threatened to tear us from our seats. The journey out to the first whale, about 6 nautical miles, was quite rough with lots of bumps and spray flying past the cabin window. I tried not to think about being out at water - another phobia of mine - but told myself I was on a bus hurtling over the back roads of county louth - possibly the Ardee Road. That's really bumpy. After a while we arrived at the first whale, a young male named Big Nick (so called because he had a big nick out of his dorsal fin). I was hesitant at first to leave the cabin because of the motion of the boat (thought I would fall over board or pitch my camera into the ocean, and we were over a 1000 metre canyon) but my desire to see the whale over came my trepidation. Big Nick sat on the surface for a few minutes, gulping in lungfuls of air, and then dived down to feed, showing off with a nice sweep of his tail. We headed off to another whale, but arrived just as he dived, so back to Big Nick who resurfaced after about 20 minutes of feeding. These whales, the fourth largest whale in the world, can dive for anything up to an hour and over depths of 1000 metres. They are toothed whales, unlike the larger baleen whales - humpback, blue - and eat fish and squid, which they swallow whole. Ascetically I prefer the sleeker lines of the humpback, but the sperm whale is fascinating in its own way. Big Nick idled on the surface, replenishing his reserves or oxygen for a while, and I really got a feel for his size in the water, it was amazing. Then he dived again. We headed home after that and met up with a very large gathering of dusky dolphin. I think they were feeding because there must have been easily 50 dolphin and there were loads of sea birds as well. The dolphins swam under the boat, slapped the water with their heads and tails, leaped into the air and performed somersaults and generally cavorted gracefully all about us. I videoed the spectacle with my camera but it didn't do it justice. The sight alone was worth going to New Zealand. I often dream of seascapes teeming with life (they are usually scary dreams) and it was just like one of those dreams, except not scary. What made the trip even better was sighting a Wandering Albatross flying past the boat. I've seen them on TV with David Attenborough, but nothing compares to seeing them in real life. They are BIG birds, really really beautiful and majestic and BIG. I also saw giant shearwaters, another big bird, lots of different type of petrol, tern and I think skua, but I'm not sure. I tried to video the birds, but they were really hard to catch on camera. On the way back to the bus we saw a pied shag drying his wings on a rock (think of one of our shags, but with a white chest)

This afternoon we went for a bird watching walk in the forest. Our guide, Barry, was really nice. He told us that New Zealand native birds have no fear of people, which is amazing. We heard more birds than we saw, but after tramping for a while a couple of robins (a female and fledgling) popped down and scampered around our feet looking for grubs. They look bigger and rounder than our robins, with black plumage and white chests. Walking on we saw bellbirds (a little like reed bunting) fan tails (a bit like the pied wagtail but with a fanned tail), the brown creeper (wren like) and the green warbler (warbler like). In Barry's garden we saw some NZ Pigeons which are about the size of our wood pigeons and sound the same when they fly, but are really deep blue with white chests. We also saw magpie (NZ variety), thrush (introduced), starling (introduced) and Black Backed Gull. It was a good walk and the birds were interesting. It was nice to see them in their natural habitat. We also saw some interesting plants, which I can't remember the names of unfortunately.

Kaikoura

The weather was absolutely glorious this morning, and I got terribly burnt on my arms, face and chest. the monster didn't get burnt, she says she is more used to the sun and that's why. Don't know where she gets to see it to be used to it. slept in today, had brunch in a little cafe on the main street. Wandered onto the beach - it is all pebbles but has a beautiful view of the ocean and the mountains. Bought some supplies in the supermarket and then drove out to the fur seal colony. We had to walk across this field of rocks. I think it was a lava flow as it was very smooth and flat like stepping stones. We saw one large seal, possibly a bull, rolling around out on a rock. I think he was showing off. Couldn't see any other seals. They are fur seals, so they are eared seals like sea lions, not true seals like the ones we have at home. We went into the visitors centre and booked a star gazing tour and whale watching for tomorrow. Got our washing done. Had dinner in a lovely restaurant. I had venison - first time - and it was delicious. The weather turned nasty in the evening and a storm front moved over the mountains. It was interesting to watch. The star gazing was cancelled as a result, but hopefully we will be able to do it tomorrow. we have to phone the whale watching in the morning to see if it is going ahead.

I've noticed some comments looking for photos. Unfortunately the monster has a problem up loading her photos onto pc's that don't have the correct software. it is annoying I know. Sorry folks.

Antartica, Willowbank and Kaikoura

We left Christchurch today. Collected our tiny toyota yaris from hertz and headed out to the airport to experience the thrills of the Antarctic centre. it was really interesting. They had lots of informative and fun things to do and see. the Monster and I got really excited at seeing some coal mined from Mt Crean (obviously named in honour of Irish Antarctic explorer Tom Crean). we got to dress up in Antarctic gear (lovely warm goose down suitable for winter weather in Ireland), watch Antarctic fish (weird creatures with massive heads & eyes and anti freeze in their blood) and pose with a stuffed leopard seal. The highlight for me were the little blue penguins - the smallest penguin in the world. They have a colony of 18 penguins who were injured in the wild and have found a home there. There was one called Elvis (because she likes to sing) and she was blind. She walked around the enclosure with her beak held out like a stick. her best friend is a penguin who was blinded and brain damaged by a fishing hook. The keepers said between them they had one eye and one and a half brains! The other highlight was going into the wind chill chamber where we experienced winds of -18 degrees. Reminded me of walking along the beach at port in December. I think they measure temperatures differently here, or else Ireland is colder than I realised. After the Antarctic centre we went to Willowbank wildlife reserve. they had lots of native and introduced animals. You could buy food and feed a lot of the animals and, as a result, they expected to be fed. The monster and I weren't feeding them, but they followed us all the same. At one time we had five ducks waddling after us looking for food. It was funny. As we walked along, roosters and ducks would come racing purposefully towards us. The scariest time was when a gosling raced after us calling, much to the dislike of its parents. for a moment the monster and I were afraid we were going to be attacked by the geese! we saw a wallaby with a joey in its pouch, tame eels (you could feed them too), lemurs (in a big huddle like in Dublin zoo) and hundreds of red eared turtles. The highlights for me were the native breeds (kiwi, tuatara, weiki, kea), petting a friendly sheep and talking to a sulphur crested cockatoo. we were walking past his enclosure and he said 'hello' so I said 'Hello, how are you?' he said 'all right.' I said 'We have to go now, bye bye' and he said 'bye now'. It was amazing. The kiwis were a bit more active than in Christchurch and I had the benefit of looking through my night shot camera. I finally saw the tuatara, couldn't see the third eye though. The weika, a kind of moorhen, were very curious and friendly. They had warning signs on the kea enclosure that they might land on you. the monster and I hoped this would happen, but they were too busy play fighting with each other to notice us. After willowbank we drove up to kaikoura, which was about 2 hours away on the coast. we got to see some of the 40 million sheep, and lots of interesting birds which I couldn't really look at as I was driving. the mountains were beautiful. think Long woman's grave x 100. at one stage the mountains were yellow were flowering gorse, it was quite a sight. First sight of kaikoura was amazing, driving down through the mountain pass seeing the snow capped mountains on one side, the blue green waters of the pacific on the other and the little town nestled in between. It is a small place with lots of whale watching, a fur seal colony and birds. we are staying in a lovely motel and I can hear the pacific lapping just outside my window (there is a road between the window and the sea). Looking forward to seeing loads of wildlife while we stay here.