G'day!
It's been another action-packed week, and we've loved every minute of it! We've walked over gushing rapids on swingbridges Indiana Jones style, gone up mountains on cable cars, raced down on a luge, watched dolphins and penguins in their natural habitat (in the sea!), and after all that excitement we stayed in a beautiful log cabin where we enjoyed a hot bath under the stars. We saw Mount Cook, amid the clouds, and some amazing aqua-marine coloured lakes. I've met lots of lovely people this week, including Toni's Uncle Terry and some of Toni's ex-patients who keep in touch with her.
Thank you all for your hospitality and company! Yesterday we went whale watching in Kaikoura, and saw three sperm whales, loads of dolphins and a few albatross, which they think will be extinct within six years due to fishing nets and the like - it's great to see them for real, after watching all of those nature programs about them - a wonderful experience, but it's sad to hear about the fate of some of these animals - they say that there are only about 500 blue whales left in the world, so two counties have said 'well if there are so few, we might as well kill them now'. Not very promising. Now we're on the final leg of our journey, making our way back to the top of the South Island. Quote of the day..'the only time you should look down on someone is when you're picking them up'. This is one taken from the writing on the walls of the 'alternative' farm we stayed at in Akaroa.
Bye for now,
Owen and Toni
