Akaroa and Christchurch

By 6pm we were almost in Akaroa, however we decided to stay in another campsite about 20 minutes away in Okains Bay, which we had read good things about.

This campsite was situated in a 5km wood right on the bay. It also had a few basic facilities, including a shower which gave you hot water for four minutes for 2 dollars.

When we got there, we found the place to be pretty much empty, so settled in for the night, in a cosy little spot which just looked out onto the bay.

With the wind blowing straight in from the bay, we sat in the communal kitchen with a wholesome meal and a few drinks (well, actually quite a lot for E-J)! After a few glasses and feeling tired, this became a concern to Sam, as E-J ensured that anyone who was in the kitchen new of E-J, or the women who talked "like Princess Diana", as one Lady put it! However the German couple eating there at the same time, were not quite so enthralled by E-J's conversation. From Sam's point of view, E-J wasn't really making any sense and the German's couldn't understand a word she was sluring! By the time Sam finally managed to drag E-J away from any further embarrassment it was pitch black outside and we had real trouble finding where we parked the van. Somehow, we managed to take a wrong turn and found ourselves fighting our way through foliage and branches, until we finally came upon the van, by luck. Despite insisting that she was wide awake and didn't want to go to sleep, as soon as E-J's head hit the pillow she was out like a light and snoring!

The next day, with E-J feeling a little worse for wear, we headed to Akaroa. As the French believed they owned this area of New Zealand, it has a slight, quaint French feel to it, with the streets and shops written in French. This makes it feel like a place slightly removed from anywhere else in New Zealand.

After indulging in a good old fry up, we enquired with a tourist office about swimming with dolphins. This place is particularly renowned for swimming with dolphins as they have the rarest of all dolphins here, called the hector dolphins. These are also the smallest dolphins in the world and can only be found in New Zealand. They are an endangered species, so it was a real privilege to get the opportunity to swim with them. To our luck we found that there was space throughout the day, so booked ourselves on a 4pm tour with the hope that the weather would improve as it was rather overcast in the morning.

The rest of the day we spent killing time, wandering around the town (which took all of 10 minutes), surfing the net at "Le internet", in the hope that someone might have finally sent us some e-mails or put some comments on the blog! We spent the rest of the day chilling out by the bay and reading our books. It was simply blissful and by the time it was 4pm the sky had brightened and the sun was shinning.

As we got into our groups and into our wetsuits, we were relieved to find ourselves in a friendly group of seven. As we set off in our boat out of the bay, we were all told a bit of history about the dolphins and the usual safety procedures about the boat. Ten minutes later, we spotted two dolphins swimming past us and as we slowed down they started to make their way back to us to investigate. This was our chance to get into the water, which was absolutely freezing! The first challenge, was to get in without making much of a splash as we had been told that splashing to dolphins is an aggressive act and is threatening to them. The second challenge, was to not scream from the sheer agony of the freezing cold and the final challenge was to try and move in the water, as all we seemed to do was bob around from the air trapped in our wet suits.

As we acclimatized to the water, the dolphins would swim near to us and then disappear again. We were instructed to attract them by singing into the snorkels under water (as apparently they liked that noise) and to tap stones together (which were given to us before we got in). We're still not absolutely sure whether the guide was being truthful when she said this, or maybe she was just having a laugh at making us all look ridiculous. Needless to say E-J got incredibly carried away with her dolphin impressions, Sam on the other hand kept making a noise similar to a seal with a sore throat! The rest of the group just couldn't understood why...

As we continued to wait in the water, several other dolphins would swim towards us and under us, checking us out. We had bought an underwater camera, but it was impossible to get a picture of the dolphins as they swam so fast past us and the water was also very murky. A couple of times a dolphin would swim right up to the back of a person, but as soon as they tried to turn around, it has gone. Sam was the only lucky one to have a dolphin actually play with him. This was when the dolphin circled Sam and he circled around with it. It was incredible to see.

We were only allowed in the water for a maximum of forty minutes, so after the final flock of dolphins left us, we all got back in the boat shivering and very greatful to be given a cup of hot chocolate.

When we got back to Akaroa, the tour had taken a total of two hours and by now it was 6pm. All the stores were closed and with no food in our van, we resorted to eating in one of the restaurants in Akaroa. It was a beautiful evening and we sat outside by the dock, discussing what an experience the day had been.

That evening we returned to the same campsite as the night before and went to bed, without bumping into the Germans! The next day was a day of nothing, so we decided to spend the morning on the beach at our campsite (which actually turned out to be a lot colder than we had anticipated) and spent the afternoon in Akaroa.

It was really lovely just to wander around the quiet little place and have nothing to do. We have been so spoiled over the last few months, with constant activities, that sometimes you just need a day of nothing.

The following day Sam's friend Charlie met us in Akaroa. Very kindly, Charlie would be having us to stay in Christchurch during our last two nights in New Zealand. First, we went to Hicks Bay where we went surfing. Charlie had very kindly brought three surf boards down so that we all got a chance.

Having only really body boarded before, in wasn't long before E-J had, had enough of being thrown around in the sea. Also her rather lively imagination, managed to persuade her that if she stayed in the water any longer, she just might be the first shark attack to happen there. Sam on the other hand, took to surfing like a duck to water and even managed to stand up on his second go.

After a short session in the surf, we set off for Christchurch. Leaving it a bit late, we raced there to get the van back in time. Having just made it back and dropping the van off successfully we where kindly collected by Charlie and taken back tp his house where his housemate, Emily had very kindly offered to cook us supper for the night. With a few drinks enjoyed at the local pub we slept very well!

The following day, Charlie took it upon himself to entertain us. We spent the morning wandering around the shops near to his place. We stopped in a couple of surf shops and a what can only be described as a revolting second hand place, which Sam seemed to love....

The afternoon was spent surfing with Charlie and his housemate Emily, who were both fantastic surfers and made us look pretty pathetic. Sam managed to stand up a couple of times, but E-J felt as though the sea had literally slapped her in the face, from the amount of times she managed to fly over her surf board in an attempt to catch a wave. After drinking a gallon of water, E-J was the first to call it a day and after a while the others joined her too.

That evening, Charlie and Emily, joined us for a meal in the centre of Christchurch, which was lovely. After that we went to a trendy little bar in town, before heading home.

The next day, Charlie was off to work at 8am and after saying good bye and thanking him for his enormous generosity during our stay, we headed off too. We managed to work out the bus system to the centre of Christchurch, had a quick bite to eat and then caught another bus to the airport. At this stage, Sam found E-J impossible to handle, with the amount of excitment building up inside her. E-J was completely over the top about the fact that in a few hours she would see her Mummy and sister in Sydney.

The flight was only three hours and very pleasant and before we knew it we had left New Zealand and were on our way to Australia.

Sam's comments: Swimming with dolphins was not the life changing experiance people say it is meant to be, but the surfing might be! A big thank you to Charlie, a great friend.

E-J's comments: I really enjoyed the last campsite we stayed in. It was so lovely to wake up in the morning and hear the sea. Swimming with dolphins was also an incredible experience, although I wished they had wanted to play with me! Charlie was lovely and just so generous with all he did and gave to Sam and me. Staying with Charlie made it a really special end to the trip in New Zealand. Bring on OZ!