May 7

Monday, May 7

But 6:00 came too soon and we lazed in bed for another 30 minutes or so. Then, we were up and taking all the gear back downstairs. We were loaded up and ready to leave a bit before 7:00 or so. Josh went to return the key to reception, the back door to the lounge area was still unlocked. Then, I took some pictures of the outside of the hotel and the sign before we headed out to the Whale Watch tour area.

The sunrise was a burning read color as we drove into the car park for the Whale Watch. There were a couple of other cars there for the tour and people were heading into the tour building. Josh and I finished getting our gear together in the backpack and getting our things situated before going into the building to check in for the tour.

We were at the end of the line and were able to overhear the details regarding the trip as other people checked in. Basically, there was a chance for 30 knot winds and at any time the tour could be canceled. There were really nice plasma screen tvs everywhere that stated the weather conditions and departure times and the likelihood for sea sickness.

The tour itself did not depart until 7:45. So, we killed time by watching a video in the auditorium, Josh bought a postcard, and I went to the bathroom. Then, it was time to go. So, we all boarded a bus…a really nice, top quality bus with comfortable seats. There was some commentary from Rex, the uninspired Maori tour guide. He sounded so bored with it all!

We reached our yacht, the Wheketere or “Fast Squid,” and we boarded after finding out that the smoothest ride was to the rear of the boat. Josh and I sat near the back and the seats were really comfortable and the ship overall was totally plush with a plasma screen tv. There’s room enough for 40+ passengers onboard and we had about 25 people.

Rex showed us some interesting graphics like a depth chart and where the continental shelf was located below the boat. Not long into the ride we spot two dolphins chasing the boat and then we saw our first residential sperm whale “Old Nick.” It was really cool when the whale would dive under the water and you got to see the quintessential shot of the whale’s fin going into the ocean – cool.

We drove around and the mountain view with the snow capped peaks were nice. Then, we spotted another whale and it did the whole float, blow hole spitting water, and dive under with fin thing again. Every time a whale goes under the water it leaves a clear flat spot in the water called a “fingerprint.”

We continued onward and saw another whale…but it was just Old Nick again. But still, we at least got to see him do the whole dive under water and lift the fin upward thing…and this time, the mountains were in the distance so it made a great shot.

Then, we saw dolphins! A whole team of like 8 dolphins just swimming back and forth under and around the boat. We were on top of the deck and taking as many photos as we could as the dolphins swam around. Then, it was time to head back to the shore and we made it back, caught the bus and were at the departure site and the car park by 10:30. There were a lot more people waiting to catch the next tour than had been on the earlier tour, so we were glad that we’d caught the earlier departure. Too, we noticed that the winds were really starting to pick up as we drove out of town.

But before we caught the road out of town, we stopped into a paua shop to see what they had. I passed on buying myself something because I’ll be in NZ a while yet and can find something for myself later on.

Next, we were on our way to Christchurch. We went driving through the windy roads and I was getting so sleepy. I told Josh I was going to sleep if he was okay driving. I nodded off from time to time and then when we reached some small town outside of Christchurch I used the public toilets. We got a text message from Deb regarding a deposit for the Tekapo house. I texted back (my first time ever) that we would deposit money because we still wanted to stay in the house. Then I talked Josh through the directions to find the hotel in Christchurch.

Finding the hotel was easy enough even though I didn’t have a very detailed map. We only went down the right street (but too soon before the hotel) once before turning around and finding the hotel’s entrance. We parked the car and went into reception.

We checked in and we saw that we’d been given a room on the first floor so I asked to be changed to an upstairs room. Got that sorted out and we were on our way to the room. We pulled around the back of the hotel, parked, got our luggage out of the car and went up to the room.

The room was a disappointment after having stayed the night before in a modern room for less money. This room was your standard big hotel room style. Traditional décor and a bit worn around the edges. Not too bad until I found the extra pillow in the closet and when I put it on the bed I noticed a stain that turned out to be a big patch of dried blood….super gross!!! I took a picture and called housekeeping to request a new pillow.

When the housekeeper showed up with the extra pillow she asked if I’d found the pillow in the closet and I said yeah, but I also found this (and showed her the nasty stain). New pillow, Josh was in bed for a nap. Well, we’d already ordered a shuttle to drive us to the city center at 2:30. I went to put on some make up but by 2:20 Josh had determined he wasn’t going into town and I had him call down to reception to say we weren’t going to make the shuttle.

Josh ended up staying asleep until 7:30 or so. By that time, I was mad because he’d said he would get up at 6 and he still wouldn't get up. I just wanted him to stick to his word so I wouldn't have false expectations about when he was planning on getting up. So, we spent the rest of the night in the room eating Mellopuffs and chips for dinner waiting for the next day.