Kaikora

Well after going back to Mt. Cook then Rangitata, I finally got here to Kaikora. Its famous for its sea-life, whales, dolphins and seals. I did a fishing trip because there was a small chance of seeing all that stuff, i've seen most of it before and it was the cheapest. We started by pulling up crayfish pots. These aren't like the small things we get ah home, they are large, saltwater things like lobsters but without the claws. The first pot was empty but the other two had loads in them. We had to sort through them all as we weren't allowed to keep females, you can tell because of the spongy coral red stuff under the stomachs, the eggs. They also had to be over a certain size or they got thrown back in. After that we got out the fishing rods and caught lots of perch, a very nice fish. It was a good trip and this time we used fishing lines rather than had lines, it was all a bit high tech! on the way back we saw seals, dolphins and a penguin but no whales. I decided to stay and extra day because I like it here, and get the public bus to Nelson tomorrow, to start working on some peoples farm on Wednesday. Today I spent the day relaxing and walking out to the seal colony. There was a sign at the visitors centre saying you could swim with seals, it was cheaper then the dolphin swim and I was keen to try but no-one runs it in the off season. I suppose I could go swimming myself but I don't ancy jumping off the cliff and I have no idea how to behave around a seal, these are actually sea-lions and very big and heavy. So I will just have to be content with my walk. Its a lovely little village though, just one street and then a peninsula where all the marine life live around.

I stayed in a hostel called the Adelphi which was very old and seemed to date from about 100 years ago. When we checked we were asked how many girls and boys there were and I said me plus 3 girls who had gone dolphin swimming, but for some reason they got put in another room so I got a whole 6 bed dorm to myself!! That was nice on the first night as I had a few to many drinks and just went straight to sleep but not the second night. Because it is so old its a little creepy, and I'm reading Rebbecca by Daphne du Morier at the moment, set in about the same time period that the hotel was built. Its a bit of a ghost story so to be on my own in an old building, which sort of reminds me of the Twilight Zone hotel and read a ghost story was a bit weird last night and I began wishing for some company.