The sparse south coast

After leaving the beauty of Milford we made our way along the south coast of New Zealand, which is very harsh and windy but the landscape was in no way less beautiful, just in a more rugged way!

We went to the most southerly point in New Zealand and felt the icy winds coming off the Antarctic, and saw yellowed-eyed penguins making there way back home after a long days fishing!

Then we took a detour from the coast, back inland to visit the stunning sight of Mt Cook and the breathtaking Lakes Tekapo and Pukeki, which both sit in the site of old glaciers and therefore are the most brilliant turquoise colour!

After all this sight seeing we decided to make our way back to a city and visited Christchurch. We defiantly went expecting the devastating sight that the Earthquake 18 months ago had left. The centre of the city is still a no go area with many building still in ruins, it really is quite an eerie place. But then you turn the corner and you see what the city s doing to re-build itself. Re-Start is where they have built up a shopping centre using temporary containers.

After Christchurch we headed up to Kaikoura to see what everybody goes there for, the Whales! We had booked onto a whale watching flight! When we got there we were a little disappointed to learn that there is only ONE whale currently hanging around but apparently his movements are quite predictable! But after 30 mins of circling and staring at the sea we were starting to dispare! But then we saw all the boats rushing in one direction and we did a quick 180 to where they were heading and there we saw him! The 18m Sperm Whale! And it was worth the wait!