Whale watching and under world adventure

Next tiny but beautiful stop was Kaikuora all famous here for its sea life of all sorts, with the whales as the main attraction. All whale tours were canceled when we arrived since they all decided to head offf shore, but we enjoyed the day watching the local fur seal colony and celebrating our 8 year anniversary since we got together with some fantastic sea food. The lobster (the Kiwis call them cray fish just to be modest I suppose) was clearly over rated but the fish was just beautiful. The next day Hanna headed out early and was really lucky to see some 15 whales, dolphins, seal, albatross and much more. It was an extraordinary experiance to see this giant sperm whales up to some 20 m long. Emil with a tendency of sea sickness was considering passing this activity but with Hanna’s luck he was convinced to give it a try. Emil had to endure rain, rough sea, a neighbour throwing up five times while not trying to get too sick himself without any signs off sea life what so ever. Since 98% of the trips spot whales, Emil being one of the few unlucky ones at least got most if the money back.

We then took the ferry back to New Zealand’s north island. The crossing offered a fairly rough sea making both kids throwing up and making Emil’s fair skin even more pale. Hanna is not affected by the sea too much so she seized the opportunity to catch a cold instead. We had two relaxed days in Wellington, where we enjoyed the beach right in the center of the city with Emma going for a swim, catching up with Iain and Jane again and also with Angela from the middle eastern trip. We then hit Palmerston North again seeing our Swedish friends Calle and Malin. Emma was all excited during the whole stay playing and talking in Swedish for once with their kids.

Waitomo caves offers some of the best caving experience in the world. Emil went on a trip abseiling down into the depths in wafer falls, caving through tunnels and underground rivers down to some 80 m below, before climbing up through the streams, rocks and some really long ladders. An awesome underground adventure. Hanna having a cold didn’t feel like getter all wet so she went into the main caves which had paved paths and also included a nice calm boat ride in the glow worm cave. But she she could see the nice formations up close as well as heaps of glow worms. Emma didn’t join neither if us but she had a go at caving in a tunnel at the museum. Lina couldn’t care less busy escaping the museum crawling fast.

Even if we still do most driving while Lina is asleep she’s much happier awake now in the car maybe because sitting a few meters closer to her parents. Emma has become more restless though since her view out was much better in the camper but a few pillows under her chair has improved that.

A beautiful sight while driving is some yellow bush covering massive hills and fields. We’re pretty sure it must be Ölandstok a Swedish bush which must have spread from this Swedish island, it can’t be too far to New Zealand 🙂 You can see a picture and if you know the plant feel free enlighten us with a comment.