June 30th

The Hapuku Lodge is truly a honeymooner's paradise, and walking the grounds refreshes one's spirit as the Kaikoura mountains which are snow covered appear close by to the West and the roaring Pacific Ocean to the East. I am still on the South Island, two hours drive north of Christchurch. Because of the rain yesterday and the rough seas today, my whale watch cruise is cancelled. (http://www.whalewatch.co.nz/) I met with Lisa from PR and she told me that 95% of all boat trips see whales, as the harbor is a "bachelor pad" for Sperm Whales and there are 6 local residents due to the great amount of plankton available here. If you don't see a whale there is an 80% refund! Although I was disappointed in not going out on the boat, I managed to secure a seat on a seven seater plane to view the whales from above. The twenty five minute flight was successful as I spotted two large sperm whales. I must admit it (http://www.wingsoverwhales.co.nz/) I did feel a little sick as the two 20 something pilots really went for it, going quite close to the sea!
After the flight I hopped in my rental car and headed north to view a seal nursery above Kaikoura on State Hwy 1. I asked a highway worker if I could park on the side and although he called me a "Goddamn Yank" in a friendly sort of way, guided me to the spot with hundreds of baby seals and a few mamas. It was fantastic, and they were very curious of me as well. The seals are overabundant in Kaikoura, with no real predators, as they are protected from humans.
The next part of my adventure entailed driving to Glenstrae Farms for a 4 WD bike tour (http://www.4wheeladventures.co.nz/) . I told Sam back in Tourism New Zealand that this did not sound like something I would like. Again, he encouraged me to "have a go" and am I glad I did. Learning the quad bike was easy and I felt like a New Zealand farmer as we traversed the amazing farmland which is a total of 1600 acres right on the ocean! The land was dotted with sheep and black Angus cows. The sheep ran when they heard us coming, the cows just stared us as if to say, "go ahead and try to make me move!" The tour included going up and down some fairly steep hills and along beautiful cliffs and ended up by the hut for afternoon tea. By the end, I was cruising at up to speeds of 40 km! I was proud of myself and wished my nephew Johnny could have been here, but he will have to wait until he is 16 years old.