South Island week 1: Kaikoura

 

Getting super close to seals on the drive to Kaikoura

In Kaikoura, we stayed at a marae (<spiritual house) with the local Maori. I was kind of intimidated going into it, because we learned all these RULES about things that were offensive to Maori.

Don't sit on tables or counters

Don't drink or eat in certain rooms

Don't wear your shoes inside

Greet people with a forehead/nose tap, and grasp their arm above the elbow

So I was just so nervous about the whole situation, thinking it was going to be high-stress. It ended up being totally the opposite though, it was the most comfortable I've felt this whole trip actually. They're big on singing and belonging as part of their culture. All 25 of us slept in this big room called the Wharenui (fair-a-new-ee) which was so cool, every wall panel was a neon-colorfully painted carving that told a story of a part of their past, and we slept in rows on the floor like a slumber party. It was cool to be able to talk to everyone before we fell asleep, but if you weren't one of the first asleep, you lay there awake amid a cacophony of snoring and sleep noises forEVER (as I soon discovered). I would have loved to take pictures of this, but we weren't allowed for religious reasons. The whole marae was on a cliff facing the ocean (whale-watching is Kaikoura's #1 industry) and the buildings were surrounded by patios, rose bushes, peach trees, and giant, bird-like statues. A sweet spot.

The last night, everyone had to participate in this goodbye celebration, talent-show sort of deal. Morgan and I did a duet with her playing the guitar ("Anyone Else But You" by the Moldy Peaches. Pretty freaking adorable) which was slightly terrifying. I don't like singing in front of people, but the group is SO tight by this point, I could've been the world's worst singer and they still would've cheered and told me I was alright. 

The next day we went on a boat out into the deep ocean to look at pelagic seabirds. We loaded up onto 2 boats with wetsuits and a kiwi skipper on each to look at albatross: a GIANT bird that feeds on the water, they are huge, with wingspans of over 3m on the males (I'm 1.64m tall, to give you an idea). When we were out there though, we found a huge pod of dusky dolphins!! We killed the motor, suited up, and then SWAM with wild dolphins in the ocean!!!!

(I tried to upload a video here, but even after 8 hours of uploading, EcoQuest's second rate internet still just could not handle it)

Dolphins are super smart, and super cool. The jumps and flips and all that they do are just for fun! They don't play any other natural role. Very cool. They were playing with us under the water, and if you dove down, they'd circle around you. They probably thought we were mentally-retarded seals or something, who didn't know how to swim very well and made more squeaking noises than they did. It was fantastic

 See the town on the peninsula? (click the picture for a bigger version I believe) This is from our hike. So pretty, and the waters around Kaikoura are teeming with orcas, dolphins, seals, and giant seabirds. The whole economy of the town depends on those guys.

 And more of our hike, this above picture is so typical NZ I hardly know what to do with myself. Watch where you step.

'ello gulls (mine?)

We spent our weekend off in Hanmer Springs, where I only took dumb pictures of us doing stupid stuff, so I don't really think any of them are worth posting. But Hanmer Springs was just surrounded by green mountains, everywhere you looked. I couldn't get enough of it. Everyone in our little group said Hanmer looked just like Colorado. My original life plan was to live somewhere, anywhere warm as soon as I got the chance, but this trip has changed my mind. I am headed for Colorado. I want to live in the mountains, I'm serious about this. Maybe I'll winter somewhere warm... or take up skiing or something. This trip to the South Island has made me realize I want to live somewhere where I can look off the porch and see beautiful things every day (and there are worse things than cozy hats and thermals)