Life is not measured ....

Helen and Mike, Isaac and Theo come to visit

Over Easter we have had our friends Helen and Mike with their two boys Isaac and Theo over to visit. I first met Helen and Mike at Uni in 1988, Mike and I studied engineering and Helen and I shared a flat. We’ve been friends ever since and shared many experiences together.

Helen and Mike, Issac and Theo started their NZ trip in the north island, taking 10 days to travel down by campervan. We were interested to hear which bits they enjoyed for when we make it up north. They then took the ferry across the Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton and the train down to Kaikoura where we met up with them for the south island part of their trip.

We spent the first night catching up, the kids were all pleased to see one another and enjoyed playing on the beach opposite the apartment. The following day we had booked to go out whale watching. This was a first for us too and we were lucky to have sunshine and calm waters as we headed out on the boat. Not far off the shore of Kaikoura is a huge trench which is almost 2km deep, called the Kaikoura Canyon. It is home to giant sperm whales and it wasn’t long before we got our first sighting, using a hydrophone, the crew had picked up the noise of a whale under the surface of the water. We waited patiently for a few minutes and then it surfaced, spouting every 20 seconds or so. Then after about 20 minutes on the surface it raised its tail and gently slid back into the depths of the sea.


We then sped across the water to catch up with another whale which was already on the surface. We made it in time to watch it for a few minutes before it too dived back under water. On the way back in to Kaikoura we saw a pod of about 150 dolphins, leaping and playing in the water. It was a great way to finish our trip out on the water.

We spent the rest of the day down by the seal colony, there weren’t many seals close to shore but the kids enjoyed running around on the rocks. Later that day we drove back to Christchurch where we gave everyone a day to catch breath and take in a game of rugby at Jade Stadium before driving down to Tekapo.

Teakpo is one of our favourite spots in NZ – the first time we went down that way Ben bust his elbow skiing but there is something about the turquoise waters and the imposing views of Mt Cook which keeps bringing s back to this spot. Although Helen and Mike only had a week in the south island, we were keen to show them as much as possible. On the first evening we made the most of the clear skies and went up to the observatory at Mt John – the night sky of the southern hemisphere viewed from here where there is very little light pollution is truly amazing. Stars littered the sky, we saw Saturn through the telescope and the milky way as a long cloud of thousands of stars across the sky

The following day we drove up to Mt Cook national park where we had a picnic and then went out on the Tasman Glacier Explorer. This is a boat trip out on the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier – after a 20 minute walk through the valley that thousands of years ago was glacier, we arrive at the boats, they are like large reinforced dinghies and because there are 8 of us we get a boat and a tour guide to ourselves. We have done this trip once before but it is certainly one of the most awesome (to use an NZ expression that we have picked up since we have been here) trips we have done this year. Second time round was just as amazing, our guide explains about the silvery grey colour of the water and we are shown icebergs of different shapes and sizes, some have popped out of the water and turned over, others are very blue as they are new on the lake. We weave in and out of the ice and get to walk on one of the icebergs and see reflections of the mountains on the water.


After the last few days packed with sightseeing and a long drive back to Christchurch, we spend the day at Sumner beach chilling out and recharging for the next few days in and around Christchurch. We go into town, taking a trip on the tram and visiting the Arts Centre and in the last few days we go crab hunting in Governor’s bay, up the gondola, to the museum and finally just before Helen, Mike, Isaac and Theo get on a plane back to the UK we make it to the Antarctic Centre.

Photos from Helen, Mike, Isaac and Theo's visit to the South Island of New Zealand

It’s difficult to pick the best bits, the boys will go back to the UK full of what they have done in NZ. The Waitomo caves in the north island sound like a big hit and the stars in Tekapo and the glacier boat trip were amazing. We’ve converted the boys to rugby and Theo has discovered that he loves the beach. We’ve all had a great time and for us it has been nice to show our friends where we have been living for the past year and some of the landscape that we love in NZ.

posted by Sharon, Ben, Louise and Daniel @ 5:49 am