A Good and Happy New Year

Tuesday January 5

Well, it has been a long time since we blogged because we were far too busy doing normal living. Normal things like sitting in the sun, swimming in Maia’s and Bridget Mead’s pool, boogey boarding at the beach and of course over indulging in food and spirits while socializing. We spent a memorable New Year’s with some strangers from around the world and New Zealand. I think that the festivities actually started on the 28th and carried on through to the 2nd. We may have started as strangers but we have all left Gisborne with a promise to all return in 5 years time.

We left Kristin and Viki’s on the 2nd after Canada beat the World in Petanque (Bocce) for the 5th time. The Canadian team was made up of Dianne, myself, Kristin and Lou (from BC) and we ruled the grassy and prickly playing field of Kristin and Viki’s yard. The yard had been transformed into a tenting paradise complete with a long drop, next to the shearing shed!! The most prized possession of the New Year, was an inflatable swim toy, so lovingly named Le Petit Poisson. (More stories pending.) The dawn of 2010 was just as inspiring and beautiful as it was 10 years ago. It was definitely worth getting that 5am wake up call and the steep-ish climb through the neighbors cow field.

The kids stayed at “Nana Rose’s” for New Year’s Eve and actually stayed up later than Dianne! They went to the town clock to watch the new decade begin, just as we had seen the new millennium begin 10 years ago. They have loved staying at Maia’s grandma’s place to get completely spoiled. “Just like at Aunt Sue’s, Aunt Sue Sue’s and at Lynn and Paul’s”.

There are no ways in the world to thank Kristin and Viki for their hospitality over the Christmas holidays. They have helped create memories of our Kiwi Christmas that will last with the girls forever. We all look forward to one more quick visit before heading home.

After leaving we headed to Hastings, a mere 3 hours from Gisborne. The highlight here was Splash Planet. It was a water park that the kids loved. It was a really hot day and there was no better place to spend it than in water. As we made our way to Wellington, the weather turned. We had chillier temperatures and gale force winds. I think that I heard that it had gotten up to 100km/hr!! I have made a vow never to return to this city for any length of time. I really don’t like coping with the wind.

The wind died down slightly in the morning for our trip on the ferry to the South Island. It made for a bumpy ride across… and, we made it across without any vomit incidents!! Drugs are good. The kids were very excited to actually drive the car onto the ferry!! We landed in Picton and immediately noticed some differences from the North Island. The unanimous decision was the size of the hills that are right next to the road. Some areas were very green while others were browner than Gissy. We made our way to Kaikoura, home of colonies of seals and sperm whales.

We got up close and personal with the seals at the side of the road. We got to see seal pups and some really big NZ fur seals. We were no more than 10 ft away from a pup that was hiding in some rocks. It was quite a surprise when he poked his head out. We got to hear their noises and watch how they interacted with one another. I think Amelia could have sat there and watched them all day!

We had not booked our whale watching before arrival and were disappointed that they were all booked up. But they did have a waiting list!! So up we got at 6 am the next day to get to the booking place for 7am. We didn’t get on the 1st vessel out. Didn’t get on neither the second vessel nor the 3rd either. But at 8:30 our name was called!! Woho!! We quickly popped our SeaLegs pills and off we went. Did I mention that there was SEVERE seasickness warning! The offshore swells were between 2- 4 metres. It reminded Dianne and I of our trip to the Great Barrier Reef over 10 years ago. And sure enough it produced the same results….holy spewin’ Batman!! The families sitting in front and behind us lost their breakfasts before we saw the first sperm whale. The noises and smells were great!! For the record, I was not sick. The Puker did not Puke! I think that it might have something to do with the SeaLegs I had taken the day before for the ferry. They had not left my system yet. Bridget and Dianne were not so lucky. Compared to the rest of the passengers these 2 got off easy.

We did get to see 4 huge sperm whales and that was very cool. It was very difficult to get good pics of these beasts because of the rock of the freakin huge waves. It was amazing to watch the sperm whales arch and dive into the water and raise their massive tails high into the air. Once the whales dive they normally stay down for 40 minutes. On the much smoother ride in, we were able to see some dusky dolphins playing around the boat. They are very frisky dolphins who love to jump and dive into the water. Bridget missed them. She had passed out on the boat, which was good
This afternoon we went into town to shop. The money that Aunt Sharon had given the kids for Christmas was burning a hole in their pockets and now it is pretty much gone. Both girls are very proud of their prizes and can’t wait to show Aunt Sharon and Uncle Lee.

We are off tomorrow to Christchurch and then off to Akaroa for some more fun activities.

Carolyn

Had problems uploading pics. I will retry in a few days when I am back online!:(