Kaikoura and traveling!

Today we left Nelson, we drove to Kaikoura, a cute little seaside town on the east coast of the south island. We stayed at a really cute bed and breakfast just a little bit out of town called The Donegal house. It is a super Irish establishment! It was very funny actually just how Irish it was. The little pub inside and the irish music, it was a really fun place. We were sitting outside our room looking at the gardens when we heard these huge sirens coming from town that lasted from about 5 minutes! I jokingly said that it must be a Tsunami warning because they don’t really have tornados and such here. It turns out I was right!!! There was a huge earthquake at the Soloman Islands and there were tsunami warnings for most of New Zealand! Beth was a bit freaked out and wanted to stay inland where we were staying but I was curious and wanted to go to the seaside and see what all the fuss was about! We ignored the warnings to stay off the beach and had dinner at a seaside pub and then went for a drive down the peninsula. When I realized that there was no tsunami coming  L we drove home and called it a night! A bit of excitement but all in all a good day! The next morning beth and I got up early to enjoy our complimentary breakfast and get ready for our whale watching excursion. It was so cool! The Kaikoura area is really known for having a lot of whales. There is a big canyon only a kilometer off the shore where there is the edge of the continental shelf, and many whales use this area for fishing and finding food! So we get into our whale watching boat, which is quite small and head off! There were huge rolling waves, that made many people sick, except Beth and I because we took motion sickness pills haha. The whales we were looking for were spermwhales, that are known for their deep dives and the length of time they spend underwater. The people who work for this whale watching company have this down to a tee. They know exactly where to find the whales, how long they dive for and how long they will be at the surface. So we get out to the spot where the whale is supposed to surface and there are like 3 boats waiting and three helicopters and two planes above all waiting to see the whale. Finally the spotter on our ship sees it so everyone raced over to see him! It was incredible, seeing these majestic creatures in the wild is truly a remarkable experience. It will not be something I will soon forget.  The whale dives and wont be up for another hour, so we leave the kaikoura canyon to go to shore to see the seals on the beach. We then finally get back to the harbor, grab some lunch and drive back to Christchurch. We returned the car, checked into our hotel and had an amazing Italian dinner! We then packed and settled all of our stuff and went to bed. Beth’s alarm went off at 3:30am so she could get to the airport on time. I helped her carry her bags down, and we said our goodbyes. It was sad to see her go, but I was also really excited to begin my exchange down in Dunedin!