finally got a good night sleep. the bites calmed down enough to allow that. the weather, as we've come to expect, was not looking so nice. but we are on the east coast (where the sun is supposed to be) so it makes sense it would be cloudy and misting rain. again. had our fingers crossed our whale watching boat ride would not be cancelled, and thankfully it wasn't. it did, however, give a warning of sea sickness when we checked in. great. just what i need, since i get motion sick on calm waters and car rides. bought a ginger pill (which they convienently sold at the desk) and crossed my fingers.
we were definitely stuck on the old people's tour. 930am will do that, i guess. as theresa & i leisurely strolled to the pre-tour movie, and the bus, and later the boat, the 65+ crowd all fought and elbowed their way to the front of the line and feigned various old person's ailments so they could board the boat first. the best was one lady, who upon being told we would be sitting inside for the bulk of the ride, immediately began panicking: "how can they make us sit inside?! how are we going to be able to see anything?! we won't get to see the whales! we NEED to get a window seat!" and then proceeded to rush the entrance when the guy began to collect tickets. holy cow people - chill out. it actually turned out best for theresa and me, since all the supposedly best seats were taken, we ended up in the front row - which was a great exit strategy when it came time to go outside to actually see the animals. take that grandma! people are funny.
a brief bus ride to the other side of the peninsula, and we boarded the boat amongst the elbow punching. kaikoura canyon drops off to 1000m almost immediately off shore, which is why we are able to see such abundant marine life and deep dwelling creatures so close to land. the water was incredibly rough and it was also incredibly windy; fun at first, since our somewhat large boat was basically skipping on the waves, but it got old quickly. i'm sure if we hadn't seen as many animals i would have felt much much sicker.
we got to see a sperm whale almost immediately. he was hanging out on the surface preparing for his deep dive, and he showed his tail as he went down, which was amazing to actually watch. the whale spotters told us that he was the only whale in the area today (usually tours see 1-2 a day), so it was off to see the dusky dolphins. on the way, saw several great albatross and a rare and strange barracuda feeding frenzy. also saw a fishing boat taking advantage of the barracuda's - since they are used for bait. at the dolphin area (more shallow waters), were literally surrounded by them. so cute - and so fast! it was really hard to capture them on film, though managed to get a few shots of them jumping out of the water. guess they are known as the acrobats of the ocean. next headed over to some rocks where fur seals and some pups were hanging out. it's funny to think that as awkard as seals seem to move, they are actually great climbers. by this point, it was really cold and windy and misting rain; my nose wouldn't stop dripping snot and my eyes wouldn't stop tearing. so i was glad when the boat ride was over. my stomach was too.
were able to make a quick exit off the boat - again, take that grandma! - and i re-promised myself i would never go on a bus tour again that caters to old people, especially old americans. (though i must admit, it was likely the best way to see germany with my mom and grandma, not that they're old - they probably could have handled a more independent tour). ran back to the lodge for a quick bite of our leftover thai, then it was off to the maori cultural tour.our guides were maurice and tanya, and they gave us a very nice introduction into their culture. there were only 7 of us on the tour (plus 2 little kids) so it was much more personal than any other tour we could have taken. we learned about maori welcoming customs (the nose touch, or hongi) and recieved maori names that we used for the rest of the tour. tho steph had a bit of a hard time remembering hers! also learned about their culture of warfare, fortifications, what happened when the europeans came, their creation story, and gender roles. we got to see a meeting house (whare nui) and some of their wood carvings which are kinda similar to totem poles in the US. we were given a laminated sheet of paper with a maori song on it, that we practiced throughout the day. it was a little hard on the ears at first, but we got better as the day went on - or at least we told ourselves that!
drove to maurice's home next, all the while weaving our flax (like palms) into woven flowers. some where better than others.. met his wife and grandchildren, where we were greeted by the hongi and gave our introduction (my river, my mountain, my canoe, my name). also had some really nice finger foods with hot chocolate/coffee. finally went for a walk thru the bush to learn about how maoris used various plants and trees for medicinal purposes (one cured TB), to make shelters and canoes, clothing, etc. the dropped us off directly at the lodge when it was done, and gave us little gifts of a woven bag, with info on what our maori names meant. turns out he numbered us, but before they created the tour they decided to associate the numbers with their 9 highest values. i was first in line, so first to be number/named; i was given the number 3 (or toru) and they associated that with the word aroha, or love. nice day overall, and i would definitely highly recommend that tour.the weather was pretty much crap all day, so we weren't able to go for the seafood bbq on the beach. oh well. we did manage to go out for a pint and wedges with leah, so at least it broke up the night, and we were exhausted by then!
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