Kaikoura
So we left Nelson after a day and went to Blenheim, without any real idea of what to do. We didn’t kayak or do anything at the Abel Tasman park, mainly because we couldn’t get excited for it. It is almost winter here, too, so it is cold and the beaches aren’t much good.
So in Blenheim we decided to take another wine tour.
I guess NZ wine is supposed to be great. So we took a small tour called “Highlights” and a guy named Gerry was our driver and there were only 2 other English girls. First we went to Montana, the biggest NZ winery. The most famous wines in NZ are the Sauvignon Blancs and other white wines. I take it that reds are better in hotter climates. Then we went to a few other wineries, like 3 or 4 more. At one was a little shops with TONS of homemades preserves and you could sample them all!! We bought a tiny jar of the kiwi jam.
We also got a bottle of Unoaked Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc. It was way too much wine for me and I fell asleep the second I got back to the hostel. Jim even had to take my shoes off. Ha ha. I thought some of the wine was pretty good, but I don’t know anything. It was fun though.
We decided to stay another day in Blenheim just to chill out. We saw the movie Troy there yesterday. We’d both been looking forward to it. We couldn’t believe what a let-down it was. It was just, blah. We went to the supermarket and got our last food for the south island, probably. Just chilled out.
Then last night I had this dream that we got a parking ticket on our car, and all night in the dream I was worried about whether we’d have to pay it.
Then this morning we drove here to Kaikoura, our last stop in the south before flying from Christchurch to Auckland. Kaikoura is a huge mecca for wildlife enthusiasts. You can go on tours to see dolphins, whales, albatross, seals, and more.
We’re just driving along, and then we got pulled over by a cop and he gave Jim a speeding ticket! Jim told me I was a witch because of the dream I had last night. But it was hilarious because there’s no way we’re going to pay some ticket in a country we’re leaving in a few days. He was only going like 10 miles over anyway, and there is literally NO ONE around for miles!! Jim thought it was hilarious.
Even as we were driving to the town, there was another seal colony hanging out on rocks that made the last one we saw look like crap. There were seals everywhere and much closer. I waved at one and he hissed and showed his teeth to me. Not very nice! They are cute, though.
Unfortunately again, it is so cold that we really don’t feel like swimming or kayaking around. But the wimming with dolphins sounded SO cool and everyone says it is amazing. However, I just didn’t think I could do it since I can’t swim and it is freezing even though you have a wetsuit. So Jim signed up for it and I’ll go on the boat and just watch and hopefully they’ll hop out of the water and stuff. It’s not fair, Jim can do all the cool stuff because he can swim.
While driving, there was this little house that this big black goat lived in. We pulled over and he walked out and then these fat pigs came over and started snorting too. It was cool.
Random:
It’s weird to have such limited access to TV and internet because then you don’t know what’s going on in the world. We love when we get a hostel with a TV with a news station because we are hungry for news. First there were the US soldiers taking those horrible pictures with Iraqi prisoners. OH man, how infuriating was that??? All it takes is a few idiots to screw up a LOT. And then, we heard on the radio about the beheading. I got chills. And then, yesterday, there was a news story on a 10-year old kid who wore his pajamas to school here to “share the shame” of the Iraqi prisoners in those embarrassing pictures. He said they weren’t even treated like humans because they were humiliated. Hm, beheading is a humane way to treat people? That little kid should be given a good slap across the head. Damn dirty child hippies.
Tags: New Zealand
Kelly
You can’t very well compare the actions of the U.S. (and British) army with the actions of anti-democratic insurgent terrorist rebels (an Al-Qaida group from what I heard).
There’s no sympathy for the despicable acts of those rebel criminals, but they are just that – terrorist criminals – so no one expects them to follow any human rights acts. A government-sanctioned, respected military on the other hand, one would expect to behave with some decency, right?
Anyway, I hope that 10-year-old kid decided to, the next day, wear a black arm band in honor of the terrorist victim Nick Berg and all the other innocent victims of the past years…
Hi guys. Just writing to let you guys know that we got the house in the Hamptons. We are currently cleaning it up and doing minor repairs to it. Have fun and we’ll see you when you get back.
love,
Mom
Hi kelly. I sent you an email at your yahoo account. Please check it and have fun
You’re better off not reading any bad news. Any good news happening in Iraq is not reported by the news media because that would not sell.
No comments on the seals? Just the politics!? HMPH! Just kidding.
Hi Tiff & Jim’s Mom, still can’t believe you guys got another house! what will happen to us? 🙂 Can’t wait to see it!