Dolphins and Wine: The North of the South Island

We left Christchurch and took a leisurely drive north up the east coast to Kaikoura, stopping at a couple beaches along the way. We immediately appreciated how few people there are here (relative to the US) as we pretty much had the beaches to ourselves. In Kaikoura we hiked the peninsula to see the local seal colony. The young pups were cute and fun to watch as they played with each other in the tide pools while the adults lazed on the rocks.

The main reason we came to Kaikoura was to swim with wild dolphins. The resident dusky dolphins are curious and friendly. They are also quite acrobatic and do spontaneous flips and jumps. It was a windy day with big swells but the trip went ahead and Dolphin Encounter found several pods for us to swim with. We had an amazing experience as they zoomed closely around us while making eye contact. They seemed to enjoy interreacting with us as much as we did with them.

From Kaikoura we drove further up the east coast to Picton. The road passed through the top wine producing region of New Zealand. This area reminded us of Napa: broad valley with a dryer and wetter side, close to the ocean. The tastings were fun and the wines were good. Clos Henri bought a small, wood church and relocated it to their vineyard to use as a tasting room. They have the same varietals growing in very different soils so it is possible to taste the soil differences in their wines. It was heavenly!

In Picton we hiked the Snout peninsula and took a boat trip on Queen Charlotte Sound. The hike went through native forest, and the cicadas were out in force and extremely loud. At the end of the Snout there are excellent views of the sound. The boat trip took us out to Ship Cove, where Captain Cook stopped five times to repair and replenish his boat as well as trade with the Maouri (indigenous people of New Zealand). We also got to ride along for a few local deliveries at places only accessible by boat. We have seen a few weka, a flightless bird, that is apparently very “cheeky” and loves to steal shiny stuff. Our current Airbnb host recommended we keep the sliding glass door to the patio closed because the resident weka will come in boldly and take things.

An interesting museum in Picton covers the Edwin Fox, the oldest merchant sailing ship in existence. It was built from hardwoods in India which helped it survive until today. It had a long history of shipping goods from the Far East to London, booze out to the colonies, prisoners to Australia and immigrants to New Zealand. In one of the pictures below you can see Diane in a bunk. This was “economy class” on a 100 day journey from London to New Zealand, and held up to a family of 6! The food and water were strictly rationed. And apparently the smell was awful. No complaining on your next long haul flight!!

The food has been awesome. The fish n’ chips wrapped in paper are the real deal, and the local green lipped mussels are very tasty.

Diane has been driving for the first time on the left hand side of the road. It is definitely a challenge, and we have decided that when we use the windshield wipers accidently instead of the turn signal we are saying “kai ora” (warm greetings) to our new kiwi friends! We have also learned that often refrigerators have a switch on the wall that needs to be set to “on” for the fridge to work. (Now we know why our food inside wasn’t staying cool.)

We are now in Nelson for a few days of exploring then we head down the west coast! Many more adventures to come…