I'm going to start by taking you back to Thursday. So much has been happening in the past few days, new experiences for both me and my dad, and I don't want to miss getting any of it down.
After the disappointment of the cancelled hot air ballooning (I have re-booked us for early March, just before Dad goes home) and a bit of a nap our first port of call on Thursday was the Air Force Museum just down the road in Wigram. Sure, it's not quite Duxford but it was never going to be was it? Nevertheless the museum does a great job of telling the story of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. From its inception when the government began assisting two private flying schools for Kiwi training pilots to fight in WWI as part of British Royal Flying Corp, through Henry Wigram's efforts to form the New Zealand Permanent Air Force in the Twenties, through the Kiwi squadrons that fought for the Allied Forces in WWII in both the European and Pacific theatres, to the current RNZAF, it's all covered. Plus they have some awesome restored planes too. They have both a Spitfire and a P-51 Mustang, two of my favourite WWII planes, so I was more than happy.
Next on our agenda was the International Antarctic Centre, which was where we had my work Christmas party. It's one of the essential things to do in Christchurch really. To be honest, it's a little disappointing. There's a room when the temperature gets down to minus 18 or so (my Dad works with refrigerated lorries and cold-stores so that's not a big deal for him really) and a room where it "snows" bubbles and the light changes to reflect an Antarctic Year. The whole experience is saved, however, by the combination of the Hagglund ride (that is one amazing vehicle!) and of course, the penguins. Everyone loves penguins. Even if they do smell of fish.
The final thing on the agenda for Thursday was the usual 5-a-side footy game. Joanne and Dad both came to watch. It was Joanne's first time seeing me play competitively and Dad brought his camera. It was weird having them there. I never usually get nervous before the game each week but suddenly I was wracked with butterflies. The pressure to perform was overwhelming. I needn't have worried, luckily. We played some great football as a team, scoring 16 to our opponents' 3.
And so now we come to Friday and waking up to torrential rain. Knowing how changeable the weather can be and given our hotel in Kaikoura was booked and paid for we loaded up the car and drove off regardless.
Our first stop north was even before we exited the city. Dad loves everything aviational and spends hours playing flight sims, especially flying commercial liners. So for his joint Christmas and birthday Joanne and I bought him a Flight Experience package. Basically it was half an hour in a state of the art flight simulator fully controlling a Boeing 737 as it took off from Christchurch circled over the Banks Peninsula and landed back at Christchurch airport. At least that was the theory. The pilot giving Dad instructions told us that a few pilots don't survive the trip, with some even failing to get off the ground. Dad's flight sim hours paid off though with a near impecable flight coupled with lots of positive noises from the instructor. It was all very impressive. Dad was easily in the top 20% of people making their first flight with the machine, we were told.
As we got to the outskirts of Christchurch the rain began to let up and the two-hour drive north on highway 1 was not as wet as we might have expected. Still, clouds hung around and we only got rare glimpses of blue sky. It didn't spoil the drive though, the scenery is stunning whether the sky is grey or blue, especially so given it was Dad's first experience of the sheer variability of the Kiwi landscape. Kilometre by kilometre it changes and you never know whether the next stretch will be flat fertile plains, barren moors, alpine forests or craggy mountain passes. It is certainly a lot more interesting that driving mile after mile along UK motorways.
We arrived in Kaikoura and decided to go for a bit of a wander first. Our first excursion was not for a couple of hours so we had time to grab some lunch and check the place out before we checked in to our hotel. As we drove round a bit we accidentally stumbled across a seal colony at the end of the peninsula. We got quite a shock. There were just twenty of so fur seals just lazing around on the rocks, quite oblivious to the crazy tourists snapping away with their cameras. I guess the seals have seen it all before.
The first thing I had planned for us was a kayaking trip. We were a bit worried as the wind was pretty strong and there were some mighty big waves we could see. We had heard that all the whale-watching trips that day had been cancelled and also the rain was on and off. Rather fortuitously the weather cleared a bit when it came to kayaking time. Also, due to the nature of the peninsula and its bays and coves, the swell didn't effect all of the sea, if you see what I mean, so where we went out was pretty smooth.
It was great to kayak up to the seals on the rocks and get a whole different vantage point. We were able to get so close to them. The seals kind of reminded me of a cross between dogs and bears. But with flippers, obviously. I felt so spoiled being able to see them in their natural environment. It is a completely different experience from seeing them in a zoo or somewhere.
Another highlight during the kayaking for us was when the ugly grey clouds that had been enveloping the mountain range to the north of Kaikoura lifted to reveal a dusting of snow. It really completed the vista. It was a little strange to see snow in February, what with it supposedly being summer and all, but mountains look better when they're snow-capped.
We had dinner in one of the oldest hotels in Kaikoura, one that dates right to the whaling-days of the town. Beautiful food, as with most places in Nuzziland, and Dad was introduced to Monteiths while England finally won an ODI in NZ.
And so finally, we arrive at today. We were booked on the 7:15 whale-watching boat and were more than a little nervous given all Friday's boats were cancelled and the forecast was for more SW-erly wind. My alarm went off at 6am (after less sleep than I would have liked due to Dad's snoring) and I decided the best thing to do first would be to phone the whale-watch people. There would be no point getting up if it was rough our there and the boats were cancelled. My "can you tell me what it's like out there?" was met with a "dark". It is no time for humour when I've only been awake two minutes. After I'd sewn my sides back up I managed to extract the fact that at the present the boats were still on schedule but they were expecting high winds at any time. Surely we couldn't have another ballooning experience with an early morning get-up followed by hope and then disappointment could we?
Well, no, we couldn't. Not this time, at least. The wind stayed off, we checked in, got on the boat and headed out into the greyness, although the threat of the wind hung around like a bad smell.
It didn't take us long to sight our first sperm whale. The boat before ours had reported seeing one dive about half an hour before and so we headed out to the same spot, expecting him to surface soon. We weren't disappointed. However much you look at pictures and watch videos of whales, to actually be there, only fifty metres away from this colossal majestic beast, is something else. And it's all very exciting seeing the whale on the surface, seeing the spray spurt from the blowhole, but the real excitement comes when they dive, with that trademark shot, tail in the air as they head back down to the feeding ground.
We were really quite spoiled this morning in the end. We didn't see just one whale, but two, as another surfaced a little later not too far way from us. And then, just to complete the experience, the first one resurfaced and we got to see him do it all again.
Running out of time, the boat headed inland. As well as resident sperm whales, Kairkoura is also home to dusky dolphins. It wasn't long before we came across a pod of two hundred or so of the playful little fellas. Just like the seals, it really is such a different experience to see them out in the wild, in their own environment. Joanne and I swam with dolphins in Mexico but to see this many, all together, swimming and jumping alongside the boat, just having fun for the sake of it rather than because they were trained to do so, was just awesome. I wish I had the words to do the whole experience justice.
It was only when we got back to the marina did we realise just how lucky we'd been. All of the boats following ours had been cancelled. The high winds had arrived.
For the return drive to Christchurch we took a different route, the inland route. It was a bit longer but I thought it would be nice to go a different way. Once again, the scenery was breath-taking, ever-changing, and although the cloud and rain spoiled the views it added to the atmosphere.
Christchurch finally rolled out the welcome mat for my dad today with beautiful, cloudless blue skies. You wouldn't believe it rained for the past 48 hours or so and that makeshift ponds had formed where once there had been only been a hollow. The ducks seemed to be loving these new aquatic playparks.
After lunch we drove over to the gondola. It was a perfect day for it as the whole of the Canterbury plains lay spread out before us, the glistening blue Pacific over to the right and the Southern Alps over in the distance, the sunlight reflecting off their snowy peaks. We could see right up the coast to the Kaikoura ranges, close to where we were just yesterday.
By now it was mid-afternoon, and time for afternoon tea, natch. We headed off down Dyers Pass Road and pulled in at the Sign of the Takahe. High teas all round sat in the sunshine overlooking the city. I think I've found a new spot in Christchurch to add to my favourites list. Plus, a little stroll away is an awesome look-out spot where you can fully appreciate the view.
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