This past weekend, my host family took me up to Kaikoura (about 2 hours N of CHCH) and Hanmer Springs (about 90 minutes NW of CHCH). Even though I went away on holiday not too long ago, this was a really nice, short getaway with my family... especially since last time we were in Kaikoura, we were escaping the earthquake chaos. Also, since we canceled our family trip to Queenstown/Arrowtown, I finally had the chance to have a good time away with them. Honestly, I think it was really great for all of us.
Yolande's dad and step mom work in Kaikoura with the whale watch company - so not only were we able to get free accommodation and food while we were there, we got free tickets to go on the whale watch boat! AWESOME. I had never seen a whale before, so to say the least, I was stoked. Yo, Ethan, Sally (Yo's step mom), and I set out on the whale watch Saturday morning, despite the rainy and foggy autumnal New Zealand weather.
Apparently, Kaikoura is one of the prime locations for whales... why? Well let me tell you... (I learned SO much on the boat and LOVED every second of it) Not far off the coast is a huge underwater canyon. It is 1,600 meters deep and 5,000 meters wide. Pretty far out. It is a prime location for deep sea creatures like sharks and giant squid (yes, they DO exist) and... WHALES. Whales need lots of room to dive down and come back up... and need a bountiful source of food, of which the waters of NZ provide. Kaikoura has seen orcas, sperm whales, humpback whales, blue whales, heaps of dolphins, seals, and albatross (GIANT BIRD). I seriously fell in love with whales on this trip... so cool.
Within the first 30 minutes of our boat ride out to sea, we saw our first sperm whale - found by the water and air they blow into the air. Our captain told us this was already a good start to our day, because normally on a two-hour tour, they may only see one or two whales. You couldn't see much of the whale, just his back, but you could tell how large it was (around 18 meters). The neatest thing was seeing him dive under and bring his tail out. Apparently, a whale's tail is to a whale was a fingerprint is to a human. Seriously, seeing this whale was better than I imagined.
Unfortunately, after the first sighting, Yo and Ethan were feeling a bit crook (sick)... Ethan even had a couple of nice vomit sessions... of which I had to step away from. The sight of vomit doesn't bother me, but the smell does. I decided to move to the other side of the boat for the remainder of the trip... just in case. The rest of the day, we saw two more sperm whales, a seal, and a large herd of dusky dolphins that kept doing tricks and jumps out of the water. We also saw heaps of large albatross... which honestly made me want to watch 'The Rescuers Down Under' every time I saw one. I felt great the entire time and loved every minute of that tour. I am so thankful for Vern and Sally being so generous and getting us onto the boats! I would love to go out again on a nicer day!
The next day, we drove west to Hanmer Springs, a small alpine village in the mountains. Although the weather was still super rainy, foggy, and cold, that made going into all the natural hot pools and springs that much more enjoyable. It's such a cute little town... I imagine it being SPECTACULAR during the winter when the village is surrounded by snowy mountains. We enjoyed tea (dinner) at a local Scottish pub and then made our way back to CHCH after that.
I loved getting away with Yo, Neil, and Ethan. We all get along fairly well, but we are quite different from one another. I feel like this trip was a good bonding time for us. We joked around a lot, Ethan was much more affectionate to me than ever before, and we just shared continuous stories with each other about our pasts and lives. Neil, a very reserved individual who I haven't spent that much time with and haven't been very close to, even called me Ethan's big sister. I've had really incredible conversations with them over the past few months, but I think this trip was a milestone. I finally feel like a real part of the family...
And typical me, I brought my camera along for the trip, but realized I had left the camera battery at home. A camera without the battery is no good. Good thing I burned most of that experience deep in my brain.
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