January 2014

Step 1. Get in the water taxi boat to get a ride up the coast.

Step 2. Have the water taxi boat pulled to the water's edge behind a tractor and loaded with kayaks.

Step 3. Water taxi ride up the coast.

Step 4. Unload the kayaks and get organized on the beach. Get skirts on.

Step 5. Out on the water.

Step 6. Seals!

Step 7. Check out a cave.

Step 8. Take a break on the beach.

Step 9. Sail back to the beach with a major tailwind.

Step 10. Wish we could do it all again!

Way back in December, we started the day with a coastal walk that lead us down to the beach and a seal colony of about 55 seals just chillin' on the beach. There were no fences or anything, you just had to be respectful of them, and we enjoyed just sitting in the sun with them, listening to their noises and watching them.

Then we strolled through some lavender gardens. Which of course, smelled amazing.

This was followed by very rough seas and whale watching success. I can't say how high the waves were, but they were certainly the highest I've been out on. We stopped a couple times to listen to where the whales were and then headed in that direction. We finally found a sperm whale!

Mostly just wanted to share this image, because maps are cool and no one knows the size comparison between the USA and New Zealand.

Found this image here on this blog.

Some other fun facts about New Zealand because I can't just post a picture of a map...

There are 4.4 million people and 33 million sheep here (and 10 million cattle). Over three-quarters of the population live in the North Island, with one-third of the total population living in Auckland, thus the majority of the sheep are on the South Island with a 20:1 ratio of sheep to people there. Less than 5 per cent of the population of New Zealand is human - the rest are animals. This is one of the highest ratios of animals to humans in the world!

22% of its residents were born overseas. This compares with 24% in Australia, 20% in Canada, 12% in the USA and 8% in the UK.

Spectacular glaciers, picturesque fiords, rugged mountains, vast plains, rolling hillsides, subtropical forest, volcanic plateau, miles of coastline with gorgeous sandy beaches - it’s all here! And no part of New Zealand is more than 128km from the sea.

[Facts courtesy of guidebooks, travel books, and google]