South Island Adventures
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2006
1
3
11
Trip End
Oct 23, 2006
Greymouth, New Zealand
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
We left Christchurch in the morning, arriving in Kaikoura early afternoon. Apparently in Kaikoura, you can swim with the dolphins! So, without needing too much persuasion, I jotted my name down on the list. They outfitted us in rubber from head to toe, including flippers and snorkel gear. The water was freezing, but it's totally worth it when you see those dolphins heading right towards your boat! Unfortunately, the winds picked up once we were out on the water, and the trip was cancelled. I did, however, see a few dolphins swim close to me, and I am convinced to try the trip again if I have extra time when I get back to the east coast!
Because the trip was cancelled, we had the afternoon free to sit in the outdoor spa, with snowcovered mountains in the distance and the sun shining down on us. No complaints here!
Moving on... the next big adventure was the Abel Tasman National Park. We departed from Nelson on the morning of the 24th and spent the day hiking the Coastal Walk in the park. The water is as blue as the waters in the Caribbean and the golden sand beaches are amazing.
Next we travelled to Greymouth, which as our giude informed us is a "one night town". But, in that one night, we went on the Monteith's Brewery tour and to an all you can eat BBQ! After the tour at the brewery, the guide let us try all the beers they had on tap... and not just a sip - it was about two beer pong cups per beer-flavor! Needless to say, by the end of the tasting, we were all getting pretty drunk. But, the best part was, after we tasted the beers, they gave us "free pulling time" in which we were given the opportunity to go behind the bar and pull our own beers... as much as you could drink in the time allowed. Our tour guide liked us apparently, and gave us about half an hour of free pulling time, and stayed out and drank with us! awesome :)
