Chris' Birthday and Christmas

Things are still going well down here in New Zealand.  We had some time off in December and since we weren't able to come home, we decided to spend time exploring here.  Things started with Chris' birthday weekend and then kept going once Christmas holidays rolled around.  I think pictures are the best way to describe his birthday as the place we went to was magical.  I can always rely on him to pick something wonderful for us to do.

Chris' birthday was a Saturday this year and the weather was beautiful! We made our way south to a small farm just outside Hamilton.  We went 'glamping' or glamour camping at a small place called Underhill which is really a Hobbit hole like home.  It was considered camping because there was no electricity but a large amount of candles were provided.

The view into the home

The surprise gift from Chris' parents, sparkling wine and chocolate!!!!!

They thought of everything when they built this place.  The details were amazing and makes a girl like me happy.  Nothing was out of place, everything felt like you had walked into a story book.  Even the ceiling was beautiful!!

You can't help but love the attention to detail.

Check out the awesome wood stove/oven

Now, I am sure the tall people here will agree, short bath tubs are stupid.  Why can't they just make long tubs where you can soak your entire body and not have to chose between having your knees, ankles or chest under the water.  Well, they thought of that too.  This outdoor cast iron tub was the perfect length.  The washroom was completely separate so this was right outside it.  Such a nice private setting.

Nude photo (scandalous!)

Our private pond

For dinner I made homemade pizza but Chris was responsible for cooking the toppings and the pizza.  I guess I just made the dough and assembled them.  Men like fire.  There were three methods to cook; indoor stove, outdoor coal BBQ and a gas BBQ.  In one night/morning Chris made sure he used all three. 

Chris cooking the pizza toppings on his outdoor coal BBQ.

As the light turned to darkness the candles made for the most romantic setting imaginable.  If you ever come to NZ, please consider spending a night here.  My new goal is to decorate my furture house like this, electricity is overrated right?

Perfection!

Pizzas!!!!

Night view from across the pond

We had a wonderful time celebrating Chris' summer birthday.  The weather was magnificent and the atmosphere perfect.  I am already looking forward to what he chooses to do next year.  He has set the bar quite high.

For Christmas we decided to head down to the South Island as neither of us has ever been there before.  We look the last day off work to drive down to Wellington in time to catch our 2am ferry.  The early morning crossing saved us $200 each way but it means having a terrible night sleep while waiting to cross and on the boat.  You also miss the views which are apparently specatular.

We arrived in the Nelson area on December 24th and set up our campsite.  Campsites in NZ are very different from Canadian campsites.  We discovered, to our disappointment, that campfires are not allowed.  They also do not provide privacy or picnic tables.  You are sent to a giant field where you set your tent up where you find room.  Since there are no real sites, people have absolutely no problem walking through your site.  At one point on our trip Chris got so annoyed he backed our car up so that it was hanging over part of the tent.  He felt this would prevent people walking between the car and the tent.  They would walk 2m to the left and would have 10m to go around our car.  Instead, we had someone trip over our tent because they climbed over it instead of going around.  Then when I asked what they were doing they looked at me like I was the crazy one.  We prefer Canadian camping.

Since no campfires are allowed, all cooking must be done on stoves or BBQs.  The campgrounds supply you with fully functioning kitchens with more appliances then our house.  When we explained to Kiwi friend that Canadian sites have fire pits and barriers between sites, he told us we were used to 'glamping.'  We are still trying to figure out how cooking on a fire and using an outhouse is more glamourous than using a full kitchen and having a long hot shower after your hot tub rental.  Kiwis, crazy people.

We thought we had bought a good size tent, but in comparison to the others in the store it had seemed small.  When we set it up we realised we could fit approximately 8 people within it.  We have a camping castle.  We went for a quick shopping trip into town to buy a table so that we could cook without placing our stove on the ground and made a lovely dinner.

The next morning we woke up to our first Christmas away form our families.  We decided to try to make the most of it and be thankful for what we had.  We had a small breakfast and decided to try to go kite surfing at hte beach we had seen dome people at the previous day.  Turns out everyone and their mother was there to celebrate Christmas so it was way to busy and deep for us to go.  We ended up swimming for a few hours enjoying the warm water and the sun.  Beside our towels was a dried up sharks head.  Not the most comforting site as you are getting ready to enter the water.

After our swim we headed back to the campsite to put our gear away.  Now it was early afternoon, we had some venison burger patties that needed to be cooked as we no longer had any cold space to keep it.  So we enjoyed our burgers then found ourselves sitting around with 5 more hours lift of day light.  We decided to go somewhere to get our minds off home.  We did a lovely little hike at the Riwaka Resurgence.  This is where an underground river comes out from under the mountain.

We found the only petrol station open and bought ice cream.  Our Christmas dinner of pasta was followed by an early check in.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, we missed you so much.  

On Boxing Day we headed south to Greymouth passing through Westport on the way.  Just south of Westport is the Tauranga Seal Colony.  We walked the 1km track out to the viewing point.  This colony did not smell nearly as bad as the Gannet colony in Napier but we were not as close to them for everyone's safety.

The Eastern NZ Fur Seal is on the come back after being hunted for their fur by European settlers.  The male is so much bigger than the female it is very odd.

Active little fella, he was running all over the place

A large male, the smaller female and her baby

This one was posing for Chris

Such a handsome man

Greymouth was a lovely little city.  Everyone told us it was always rainy and always grey but I just loved it because it was green.  The Nelson area was beautiful but it was very brown.  Greymouth is a rain forest, so it was lovely and green.

We visited the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki and saw the blowhole in action.  We also spotted Hector's Dolphins off the shore which was pretty spectacular.  These dolphins are so rare.  They are very small and have round dorsal fins.

Pancake Rocks near Punakaiki

Chris' amazing shot of the blowhole.

 

One of the twelve or so we saw

Near by was a cavern we explored.  The sign said to bring a torch so we grabbed a headlamp from the car.  You climb into this cave and just keep following it until it ends.  Since the headlamp we grabbed was not hte best it was a little scary for someone like me but Chris was wonderful, he was running all over that cave.

The only picture the camera managed to take in the dark

Since we both like hiking (or tramping as it is called here) Greymouth was a perfect location.  There are old abandon gold mining trails everywhere.  You need to stick to them as there are also abandoned shafts everywhere too so hiking off the trail is quite dangerous.  We followed one trail for a few hour in the light rain.  It was gorgeous.  When you are in the forest you would never have really known it was raining. 

South Island Robin

From the west coast we crossed through the Lewis Pass towards Hamner Springs.  This is an ski town up in the mountains with a wonderful natural hot spring nearby.  We stopped in for a soak, some more willing than others (you can pick who was who).  We enjoyed trying all the pools out and we determined that although I love sitting in hot pools, 42 degrees is just too hot for me.  While we were there we met a family form London, Ontario.  They live in Uplands.  Turns out I used to trick-or-treat at their house.  Small world!

Near Hamner Springs

From here we arrived in Kaikoura on the east coast of the South Island.  This is the whale watching capital of NZ so I was determined to see some whales.  As we have previously posted, while we were in Napier we were incredibly lucky and saw Orcas feeding along the coast.  Chris was not interested in going if we were just going to see Orcas but I had a change in heart when we heard Sperm Whales were in the area.

Before going whale watching we went to check out some more seals.  These did not have babies as little as the others but there were more of them.  They were very playful and clearing enjoying chasing each other around.

When we went whale watching we were incredibly lucky.  We saw TWO male sperm whales, TWO!!!! These whales dive for approximately 40min in this region although the record fro this species is 2h15min.  Our captain was very experienced and used an under water microphone to track where the whales were.  We found the first one relatively quickly.  We had a good look at him as they stay at the surface for around 20min before they dive again.

Our first sperm whale!!!

The king of all birds, the Royal Albatross

We saw many albatross while we were out.  Although I took many pictures, I can not figure out what kinds we saw.  I can tell you we saw at least two different kinds.  At least on kind of Royal Albatross and one kind of Wandering Albatross.

To give a size comparison, the wingspan of a Royal Albatross is approximately 3m.  The length of the Sperm Whale is about the size of a school bus.  The next photo shows this well.  These are two of the largest species of the kind and they don't make the other look small. 

The Sperm Whale is the fourth largest mammal in the world and the largest toothed mammal.  These boys were massive.

Another nice thing about Sperm Whales is that they are deep divers.  This means that you can get this shot:

After our first whale had left we noticed a helicopter checking out a different area and realised a second one was at the surface.  This boy was even bigger!! Only male sperm whales travel in this part of NZ.  The females stay with the calves in warmer waters.

As we were watching him a cheerful pod of Dusky Dolphins showed up to say hello.  It was their breeding season and they were clearly feeling frisky! They were jumping all over the place.  Unfortunately they annoyed our whale friend and he decided to get away from them by diving.

A Dusky Dolphin pod is approaching

We ended back in Nelson and Golden Bay for New Years.  We stopped by the Ngarua Cave on Takaka Hill to check it out.  One cubic centimeter of growth takes 100 years, crazy!

 

This cave had a few sink hole which had trapped animals in the past.  These are a few Moa skeletons, an extinct flightless bird.

In Golden Bay we visited Farewell Spit and saw Godwits! These migrating birds travel from NZ to Siberia and back every year.  Fascinating!!!

On our way back to the ferry in Picton we stopped at the Te Waikoropupu Springs which were amazing.  Almost ten cubic meters of water comes up every second.  You are not allowed to touch the water but I am sure swimming in it would be breath taking.  The water is so clear.  Some of the species found here are only found here and no where else in the world.

We hiked to a cave nearby which has a unique example of Phytokarst near the entrance.  This occurs when living organisms line the side of the stalactites.  These are then covered by the next layer of rock growth and the cycle continues until the stalactites grow towards the light.

Standing in front of the phytokarst formations.

We had another 2am crossing and Chris caught this photo while we were waiting to board.  He has a good eye that one!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We miss you and are always looking forward to our next Skypes and emails.

Stay safe!

Love,
Chelsea
xoxoxo