Day 36 - E noho rā South Island

Sunday morning and we are leaving the South Island today.  In our not so haste-full departure, we left a good stock of craft beers in the room and Tegan's poi balls.  With the both of us in tears at the ferry queue; we left the South Island a little less enthused about the remainder of our trip. 

I still had my sea legs and felt noxious on the drive up the coast.  The ferry ride across the Strait was not to be a good one either.  I suggested we watch a movie for this trip and sitting low in the hull of the ship was a good solution for my current condition.  It wasn't until Tegan asked to go get some food at the end of the film did I get a kick in the gut by ferry crashing into the large waves.  The scene through the windows on the front of the ferry was either all water or all sky.  Eating wasn't even a consideration of mine, but Tegan was hungry.

Back on land in Wellington and we set off North, not knowing how far to travel today before stopping to find a hotel with SkyTV for the other semi-final game.  New Zealand play Australia tonight and this was the game most feared but the Kiwis.  A win and the All Blacks face France for the final.  It was a must win game and I had to be watching it in a pub or in a hotel room.

We were suppose to have a visit to Kapiti Island, but decided to head north to try a bit of surfing in Taranaki.  The weather was suppose to hold out for us, so on we went trying to get as much distance on the day as possible.






We kept going and Mount Taranaki loomed before us in the twilight.  I had to get some photos and then we quickly set off in search of a hotel room in Hawera.  The first decent one would do and it was quickly to the office to get a key, our milk and TV powered up so to watch the game in comfort.

The game result came to the relief of millions of Kiwis and the All Blacks secured their spot in the final.  Only France now stood in the way of the ultimate prize.  Too bad we wouldn't be in New Zealand to watch the final, maybe that was a mis-planned choice.  But I wanted to be back home for my son Elliot's birthday.  Just as important.

Day 35 - Deep Sea Fishing Kaikoura

This morning I had my alarm set for 5am and woke to photograph the sunrise. I setup my tripod, camera and intervolometer to record a successions of photos while I went back to sleep.  When I woke, the camera had recorded many shots of the wakening sun including the photo below.

I had Tegan get up and we drove into town, it was now 7:30am.  We swung into a a park to use the washroom facilities and freshen up a little.  We made our way to the iSite and inquired into the dolphin swim.  We were then told that Tegan was too young to participate in the swim.  So, we decided to look into the deep sea fishing charters.  We managed to secure a booking for the afternoon on a 3 hour fishing tour.  We went back down the road to a farmers market that was setting up when we had passed by earlier and we got Tegan a cute wool hat and some poi balls for her.

Then we strolled the main street grabbed some sushi and then went on the hunt for our hotel room for the night.  The Semi-finals were starting this evening and I needed my SkyTV.  We drove around seeing a half dozen places before returning to the first hotel we stopped at and checked in.  We got rested up a bit, dressed into our warm and waterproof gear and then went down to the wharf where our fishing boat and crew waited.

Joining us on the trip was a group of 5 others; along with the crew of 2.  The little boat shot out of the harbour and we darted about the sea collecting rock lobster traps and restocking them with fresh bait. The day was overcast, but no rain and the seas were a little choppy but I managed to suppress sickness with my horizon watching routine.

Tegan was a rock and wasn't phased by any of the sloshing around or the handling of the fish and sorry octopus that found its way into one of the metal traps.  It was given an timely death and Tegan watched as its guts were ripped out and tossed overboard.

When given the rods we able to land perch with every cast.  With 3 hooks on the line, we were disappointed if we had less than 3 on the line.  It was fun and Tegan enjoyed seeing the fish as they landed onto the deck.

The gulls and albatross floated in waiting of discarded bait or small fish thought to be returning to the sea for a second chance, only to be gobbled up right in front of of eyes. 

Although we didn't get a good photo of the dolphins, they did come and check us out and it was a nice treat to see them so close to the boat.  You can see its dorsal fin in the photo to the right.

Tegan had a try at reeling in the fishing line, but tired of it quickly.  It was a bit of a chore to get the line in, but when the fish were on show, Tegan was pleased as punch.

Although we didn't catch anything but perch, some people on-board managed to reel in Blue Cod and a couple of small sharks.

The trip was hard on one of the passengers and the waves got bigger and the rain began to fall as we neared the end of our trip.  It was almost all I could do to keep from getting sea sick myself as there was people being sick to our right and left.  Not so pleasant.

When we landed on shore, we were pretty cold and we fetched our van and got the heater running before heading to the wharf to collect our small share for supper.  I was happy to be back on land.

When we got back to the hotel room, I prepared a few fillets of perch for our supper and then we watched the game that crushed my heart.  Poor Wales lost to France and the disappointment was felt in many a rugby fan in New Zealand and abroad.  Tomorrow we depart the South Island for the last leg of our journey.