Whales and sea sickness ..... ha ha

We were all washed, showered, breakfasted and leaving the campsite at 9am. We just had to go round the corner to the Whaleway Station (yes it is actually a railway station and where you go to book to watch the whales!! Funny eh?!). We had a cuppa and then checked in ready for our trip out to sea. It was raining and there was a sea-sickness warning flashed on the screen. That didn’t stop us though !!

At 10am we walked back to the camper and dressed for the Artic. We didn’t want to be as cold as we were on the Milford Cruise so piled all our clothes on !!

At 10.30am we were all briefed and shown an emergency DVD. We were then lead onto a bus and driven down to the South Beach Marina where we boarded our vessel, "The Paikea". A huge boat, really modern and very comfortable. We sat back and were given a talk by the guide on board. Before we knew it we were heading out, flying along into the water. It was so fast!! We were just bouncing off the waves.

Before long we stopped and the captain used a hydrophone for listening for the whales under the water. We could all go outside, so we had a walk on deck. The Captain was there and after using a compass was back in the boat to set off with the coordinates. We were asked to get back inside and to take our seats again.

We were off after a whale. On the way we saw some albatross’s just cruising across the top of the water. Soaring around with their massive wings. We were heading a mile away to see if we could spot the whale he was hearing. All of a sudden we swung around to the right and headed about 100 mtrs in front.

We stopped and these beside us was a huge Sperm Whale. We all legged it outside, up onto the top deck. It was just catching it’s breath before taking a long dive again. He just cruised along beside us. He was there for a few minutes and then he dived into the depths. Just a flash of the huge tail and he was gone again! Wow !!

We waited a while, everyone looking to see if they could spot any others. Even though they’re so huge they are quite difficult to spot when they just cruise along the water.

The skipper called us back in to the boat and we were off again looking for the whale that we’d heard earlier. We got there in no time and headed back out onto the boat. We all had our eyes peeled for him or any other wildlife. We were surrounded by the sea albatross, it was just crusing along the thermals. Apparently there wingspan is over 4 metres ....... wow !!

We sat there a while but nothing appeared. They set down the Hydrophone again and listened. Again taking down the coordinates and giving them to the Skipper. Back in the boat and speeding to the next place.

We got there and back out on deck again, this time another boat turned up and we were both waiting. After a while and seeing nothing, the skipper decided to go back to the one we’d saw earlier. He was thinking it might be on it’s way back up for another breath.

We were back there in no time at all and as we all ventured out he was there to greet us. Just crusing along side the boat. We watched from the bottom deck this time, it’s so big! After a few breaths, off he dived. A big splash of the tail and down into the deep........WOW 2 Whales!!

We sat there in the hope we’d see more but nothing appeared. We were back in the boat and the Skipper took us for a close up of the Seal Colony. There’s was hundreds of them, little baby ones too. A seal actually swam under the water as we pulled up, couldn’t believe it, it was so close!!

We were soon on our way back to the Marina, time went so quickly! So 2 Whales, 2 Sea-sickies Mam and Ben ... ha ha!!, some seals, some birds ..... awesome!! The weather had cleared up, we’d just put too many layers on really!! Just another perfect day.

To finish the morning we had some ‘fush n chups’ from Hine’s Chip Shop ..... we just had to! We didn’t try for any discount though. We sat in the camper eating our chups overlooking the sea.

We’re now in the camper, listening to the Ipod and heading for Christchurch. Our last night in the Camper tonight before we hand it back tomorrow. We’re staying City Centre so we can have a walk around the city tomorrow ....... we have to pack tonight ..... ARGH!!

We got checked into our campsite/car park and all got down to packing and sorting out the cupboards. Mam and Dad sorted their bags first and Me and Ben started taking stuff over to the Camp Kitchen for freebies.

We all got sorted quicker than expected and sat and enjoyed leftovers from the Barbie. We even had some beers left over to enjoy which was a nice surprise.

We all watched telly and were in bed by 10pm ...... our last night in the camper!!