Fishing, Piloting a Plane and Swimming with Dolphins What more could i ask for?
Well I finally left Christchurch and I loved it there. The golf tourney was a ton of fun and was won by a French woman named Nocera. The lone Canadian in the field was about 14th and had a bad day. I was kept busy finding lost balls and most were nice about it but some were down right cranky. I just smiled and i am sure that pissed them off more. I left Christchurch on Monday and traveled to Kaikoura. I am staying here for 3 days and so far i have had a morning of perch fishing where i caught 18 fish plus 1 blue cod and they gave me a crayfish (like a lobster) because i did so well. That afternoon I got to pilot a plane, yeah baby!!! They gave me about 15mintues of instruction (I am a quick learner) and then we were in the plane (Cesna 150). They taxied the plane to the runway and then i took over the controls. I did the complete take off and did pretty damn well. It was easier than I thought. I flew up to 2000 feet and then we toured around the area a bit. I asked if we could have a little fun so we did some barrel rolls and the took the plane straight up, idled the engine and fell down to the earth for a few seconds then started the engine again and flew out of the dive (I didn’t pilot this part). I lined the plane up for landing but the co-pilot landed it. That evening I ate the crayfish and everyone in the hostel kept looking at me with watering mouths, and i ate the whole damn thing. I gave one mouthful to the Stray driver but that was it. This morning i got to swim with a pod of 200-300 dolphins. They were all around us. We got wetsuits, snorkel, mask and fins and hopped into the water after the boat had us positioned in the right place. The pod swam right thru us and they were everywhere you looked. You had to look them in the eye and then they would circle you to investigate, then you circled with them and tried to keep up. THey seemed to really like playing with us and it was an amazing sight for me. Can you imagine me (the guy who can’t swim very well) in the middle of the ocean swimming with 100’s of dolphins. You truely can do anything you want!!! I will be taking it easy for a few days now as i spent alot in the last day and a half on activities ($70 to fish, $120 to fly and $150 to swim with dolphins) I am still under budget for food and accomidation but way over for activities. If i wanted to go out for a crayfish meal it would cost around $90 so the fishing part was relly worth it. I could have piloted a plane in Abel Tasman but it would have cost $400 so that was a good deal. The swimming was truely amazing and fun so well worth the money.
Tomorrow I leave the south island after a bus ride tp Picton and then a ferry ride to Wellington. The next day i will get to Taupo where i was for xmas and then to Routarua to start the East Cape of the north island. Time is zipping by quick and i can’t believe that it is February already. One more month here and then off to Australia.
Till next time may you all be living your dream, whatever it may be!!!
Tags: New Zealand
sdietrich90
Hi Steve
It sounds like you are having the time of your life, Keep the letters and pictures coming, we are enjoying reading and looking, we are all doing good here, weather much better. snow melting
Audry
“Till next time may you all be living your dream, whatever it may be!!!”
Have you been drinking too much kava???
See Steve, flying a plane is easy!!! Sounds like you’re having a good time down there, keep up the good work and keep the updates coming. By the way, Jolene and I got engaged in December. I know you’ll be mad at me, but I asked and she agreed. Sorry man, if you can make it back for July 25 we’d love to have you there. Take care and keep doin what you’re doin.
Jon