And Thus Begins the Kiwi Experience

Maori terms of the day...
"Kia ora" - Can mean either good morning or good evening
"Haere ra" - Good bye!

           Our first impression of New Zealand was definitely a cold one, our plane landing at last on the South Island by 11:00 in the evening and the temperatures resting at no higher than 5 degrees Celsius. We made our way quickly and uneventfully through customs, the people here just as lovely as I expected, before be hustled out into the chill winter shock and hired ourselves a cab.  Man Australia, you have sure made me weak in terms of temperature tolerance! We reached our accommodation at the YMCA shortly thereafter and were finally in bed by 1:00. Granted, there was a two hour time change from Melbourne… And they had heated blankets! Man, that’s not something I have seen since way back in my pre-teen years living in Alaska!

It was to be a short night’s sleep though and bright and early at 6:30 the next morning it was time to catch the bus and finally start on our Kiwi Experience Tour! The bus ride was several hours, stopping for a short coffee break in Cheviot before finally coming down the mountain ranges and dropping onto the coast.  Oh my word, I cannot even begin to describe to you have gorgeous it is here! I mean I knew it was pretty, but wow. And the pictures just don’t do it justice!

Ma, our Kiwi Experience bus driver for the day, spent some of the trip giving us a bit of background into New Zealand history and Moari culture (as that as his heritage). Upon approaching Kaikoura (our first destination) he even gave us some insider knowledge on the city.  The name of the city itself describes what it is famous for Kai – meaning “to eat” and koura – meaning “crayfish” defining the coastal towns affinity for seafood. Though the harvest of said crustacean is extremely regulated. Apparently there are some pretty significant fines and jail times if you are caught taking too many or harvesting illegally!

Lookout over the beautiful coastal town of Kaikoura

At one point, while passing this open grassy area, our driver pointed out a number of yellow flags staked about and said that the area was home to the ever elusive Dimpled Whites.  He said actions around them were rather regulated as well and the flags were set up to mark their burrows.  He went on to talk about how the main threat facing them was people coming in with metal sticks and clubbing them to death.  I don’t think I will ever think of golf the same way again.

            We were finally dropped off in the town by noon and we spent much the rest of the day walking through town, down the coast, and even a short stop in to see the fur seal colony. Oh gosh, the pups are so cute!

As you can see, this particular colony is full of some fairly active seals...

            We made our way out of Kaikuora the next morning, rolling out of town under cover of rain clouds that had blown in during the night.  We wound our way up through the hills our first stop being at the Ohau waterfall to see the seal pups.  Gah, so cute! 

            Apparently they make their way up the crystal clear stream from the ocean and spend their days beneath the small waterfall jumping and playing before heading down to their mothers in the evening to be fed. Our driver said he has been there in seasons where there have been, no joke, around a hundred seal pups in this small little pool.  I can't even imagine!

            We made our way to the town of Picton where much of the bus, including Ma our driver, departed for the ferry across to the North Island.  We got a new driver then, Dillon, along with a new group of travelers fresh off the North Island.  We continued on towards our next destination, passing fields of grazing sheep, goats, cattle, and yes, even elk.  Or at least, they looked like elk.  Someone said they thought they were a Canadian red deer cross.  Either way, not something I expected to see farmed here that’s for sure!

"Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lambzy divey"

            Our driver took us on a short detour into a local winery along the way for some inexpensive wine tasting as apparently this area of New Zealand is famous for some fantastic wines.  I chose to forego that bit and went for the free fudge tasting instead. Any day man! Of course I would have to warn you, do NOT taste the orange one first! I think my mom learned that one the hard way…

            One thing I have noticed here about the drivers is that they use their car horns to communicate pretty much anything.  Like, our driver used the horn ALL the time and sometimes it was like “Hey! Look at that seal on the rock over there!” or “Dude, I like your car!” or “Thanks buddy!” or sometimes it was signaling to the car behind us to pass… and of course it was used sometimes for the negative things too.

The beautiful New Zealand wine country

            We reached our next stop in Kaiteriteri near 5:00 after a run into the supermarkets in Neslon, the town shortly before.  Apparently Kaiteriteri is a pretty darn small town and there isn’t much to speak of other than the hostel and a restaurant and pub or two. Mom and I were able to find a really cheap car to rent while in town as the next couple days for us include a several hour horseback ride up the coast off Farewell Spit and some exploring of the Abel Tasman National Park. Should be some jam packed fun times!

Glorious clouds and the beginning twinges of sunset as we head into Kaiteriteri

            Before I close off this blog entry for the day, I must first tell you about the black current bombs my mom and I have recently discovered.  The other day we were in this shopping center getting groceries and we found this concentrated black current syrup to use as a juice. “Mix with soda water” it said and we were like, “Huh, sounds great!” So soda water was purchased and back to the hostel it was.  What I want to know now is what in the blue blazes so they carbonate that darn stuff with?!? You so much as touch the bottle and the darn thing explodes into oblivion!

            We mixed up a small bottle of the juice and, seeing as the syrup was all at the bottom, figured we could just gently upend the closed container once. NOPE. And then sometime later we knocked over a closed container accidentally. NOPE.  And then another time I thought I had figured out the mixing thing by putting your mouth over the lid and upending it while you drank some to mix it.  Worked well for me the first time but then mom tried it and, holy stinking moly. The poor wall.