Kiwi Christmas

I've always spent Christmas at home other than the 3 weeks I once spent on a North Sea Oil rig working for a pittance. Therefore, this Christmas was extremely different as it was spent on a sun lashed beach and the clear blue waters of the Abel Tasman National Park in the Northwest corner of New Zealand's South Island. The park is the smallest of NZ's National Parks but its still stunningly beautiful with tiny, secluded bays around each corner complete with golden sands and inviting waters. The entrance to the park is from Marahau, where camped under starry skies!

The stay in Marahau (pronounced Mara-how) was part of a week long trip with friends which also involved a few days at Kaikoura, on the South Islands East coast. Although the trip started back in Wellington on a wet and windy Saturday morning as boarded the Wellington to Picton Ferry which set sail into the rain and mist. The following day, the weather hadn't improved as the whale watching trips out of Kaikoura was cancelled although the albatross trip which I had decided to take was still on!

So, out onto the sea which had 6 to 8 foot swells for 3 hours of fun in a tiny boat with 6 other people, a bucket full of fish livers and only the sea birds for company. Once clear of Kaikoura's tiny harbour, the seas calmed, the boat stopped and the birds flocked, with numerous albatross, shearwaters and petrels sitting within 1foot of the back of the boat.

The following day we went swimming with (dusky) dolphins. Our hopes were dashed slightly when we learnt that the previous trip that morning had been unsuccessful but with minutes of cutting the engines we were given the all clear to jump into the water. Although we were all clad in wetsuits complete with helmets plus flippers, masks and goggles, it was still unbelievably cold. However, within seconds, a pod of dolphins were swimming through our group, within millimetres even. The pod moved on, and so did we, clambering back onto the boat and setting off in pursuit of the dolphins to repeat the experience. This happened about 3 or 4 times before we stripped and dried off. The skipper then positioned the boat so that we could take photos!

Fast forward to Christmas Eve, and Jo and I are sitting freezing cold in a kayak, soaking in the rain wishing lunch would come sooner rather than later! It didn't although the day brightened up and the xmas kayak became more enjoyable!