February 10 — Gisborne

We had potatoes for breakfast and packed it all up and walked out of town. We hitchhiked on the highway out of town. We got a ride with some locals to Ohope Beach. Then we got a ride with Bob in his green Toyota Corolla. He was from Washington. We went along the east coast highway through Opotiki. Had lunch at Te Araroa and drove on to Gisborne. We camped on the beach and saw an awesome sunset. Had pizza for Dinner. Took some photos of Wainai Beach and the sunset at Gisborne. We had a swim at Whanarua Bay. The water was very cold. Bob was a nice guy who works on a fishing boat in Alaska and roasts coffee.

February 11 — Masterton

Packed everything up and drove to the lookout over Gisborne. We saw the landing beach that Captain Cook landed. As we went south we talked about farming stuff. We drove through a herd of cows and saw a flock of sheep being corralled by dogs and a shepherd. We stopped in Napier, had lunch, and went to the Kiwi house. We saw two Kiwis, a night Heron, and owls. We also had a walk downtown and looked at the Art Deco architecture. This town was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931. Photo with Pania of the reef. We continued driving south to Masterton. Set up camp after having Chinese food. Then walked around Queen Park. Saw a lot of birds in cages, ducks, and went on a swing. It was a great park in the city.

February 12 — Wellington

Another quick pack up and had breakfast in town of Masterton. We took off for Wellington. We drove over a high mountain range where we had beautiful views of the coast. When we arrived to Wellington we said by to Bob. We got a bed in the dorm rooms at the YHA. It is a great location. I sent email and did laundry. We walked around town, saw Parliament, and the Beehive. We took a guided tour and saw the common room with Maori carvings on the walls. During the tour we saw the library and house of representatives. We made pasta that evening with groceries we bought at New Town. That evening we went to see "Shine" at the movie theater. I had trouble sleeping in the dorm room because George, a guy from England, kept snoring.

February 13 — Wellington

We put our things in a locker and set out for a ride in the cable car up the mountain. We rode to the top and visited the botanical gardens. Then walked to the rose gardens and Begonia house. We had fish and chips on the steps of Parliament from place that was highly recommended from across the street. We saw the Waitangi Treaty at the National Archives. Then looked around Old St. Paul's Cathedral. We walked back to the hostel and Donna took a nap. I took a hike up Mt. Victoria. It was a sunny day with clear skies. At the top of the mountain was a lookout. I could see the hostel and the P&O Princess cruise ship preparing to set sail. For dinner we had some pizza before going to the ferry terminal. Our ferry boat was delayed 2 hours and we departed at 12:15 am.

February 14 — Picton to Kaikoura

The ferry left around 1:30am. I watched the train cars get loaded; there are decks for cars too. We explored the boat and looked at train cars strapped down. We had some cereal and found an empty cabin to sleep in. We slept on the floor till the boat arrived at Picton. Then we got our bags and walked into a small park and slept in a Gazebo. We awoke to freezing cold air. We sat around the park for a while then had some food at the cafe and left our bags at the train station. We watched the people in the park. We boarded our first trait at 1:30. We sat in the economy car. Nice ride by the seashore, tunnels, and saw some seals. We arrived at Kaikoura, a small town known for its "swimming with dolphins". We ate some macaroni and cheese after we put our names on a waiting list for the trip to swim with the dolphins.

February 15 — Kaikoura

We didn't have any luck getting on the dolphin swim today. It is very full. We should have booked 5 days in advance. So we went for a walk around town. We viewed an aquarium with huge sea horses. Then we strolled on the dock and walked on the beach back to the campground. I found a rock that looks like a kiwi bird. We chased a bunch of seagulls and one chased after Donna. We cooked vegetables and a pasta dish for dinner. The ducks are really funny at the campground. A pair of them makes a strange honking quack and scares all the other ducks away. We were up late talking to some other travelers about crazy stories of our travels. I watched some TV before going to sleep.

February 16 — Kaikoura to Christchurch

We got up early and went for a swim with the dusky dolphins. We took an old bus to the south wharf and took a boat out for 20 minutes and saw many dolphins jumping out of the water. I slid into the water and saw 2 dolphins right in front of my face. It was so cold I had to get out of the water. I had a new wetsuit but that didn't help any. The second swim I saw dolphins underwater again but they swam away. I didn't go in the water on the 3rd swim because I felt seasick. I went in the 4th time but didn't see anything. I got sick over the edge of the boat. We saw so many dolphins! After we returned we bummed around town and got kicked out of the campground. We took the train to Christchurch and visited the Viney family, friends or our sister, Roseanne. They met us at the train station and then drove us up the mountain range for a view of the sunset.