When we finished the Able Tasman hike we got back in time for lunch and for dinner....mmmmm.....more food! There was a burger place that our skipper told us about that is said to rival the Ferg Burger in Queenstown. So of course we had to have one. It was a little shack close to our hostel, but man, did they have good burgers! Delia said she liked the burger better than Ferg Burger, but me not being a "burger connoisseur", I would have to say that they were both good. One thing that I do love about NZ burgers is what they put on them. A common topper on NZ burgers are pickled beets......never thought of that one and it is really good! Another topper that I am not a fan of is a cooked egg.......not so great; although, I haven't tried it yet.
Okay, enough with the food already....what's next. From Able Tasman we took the bus back to Nelson where we rented another car for our final few days in the South Island. We booked the Ferry from Picton, NZ on the South Island to Wellington, NZ on the North Island on March 11, 2010 so that gave us from March 7th to the 11th in the South.
Our plan: Swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura, South Island wine tasting and finally a couple of days in a lodge in the Charlotte Islands.
So off we went from Nelson, NZ down the east coast of the island to Kaikoura, NZ to swim with the dolphins. Just a quick story of our drive from Nelson to Kaikoura. Delia loves people and loves to help people. If you can recall, previously in our travels, we picked up the young German hitchhiker. I am not a big fan of hitchhiking or picking up hitchhikers despite the fact that I also love to help people. So after we did hitchhike in Derwent Bridge, Tasmania and then picked up a hitchhiker in Arthur's Pass, New Zealand, I demanded that hitchhiking was checked off our list and that we didn't need to do this anymore. Delia reluctantly agreed, but said that if we saw a girl hitchhiker, for safety, we would pick her up. So low and behold, in Nelson, on our way to Kaikoura, we saw a girl hitchhiker. So as I was saying no repeatedly, Delia was proceeding to pull the car over to the side of the road to pick her up. ....hmmmm..."Hello", I said, "We are so happy to be able to help you out. Come on in". Turns out, she is from Kelowna, BC, Canada. Really nice girl and we had a blast. I guess that is the joy of travelling with your partner. Where otherwise I would have missed out on that opportunity, if travelling alone, by Delia picking up the hitchhiker, we were able to enjoy another travel experience. And we were also able to help a fellow Canadian Traveller - cool!
Now where was I.....oh yeah, Kaikoura and swimming with the dolphins. The reason that Kaikoura is a special place for swimming with the dolphins is that the Dusky Dolphins (the smallest dolphins) live there(NB: Dusky Dolphins only live in NZ). They make it special because they are NOT transient. That means, that it is pretty easy to predict where they will be and when. It is Not an exact science and the companies cannot guarantee that you will swim or even see dolphins, but the chances are pretty high as they know where in the sea to look. The Dusky dolphins will swim out to sea to feed at night and then swim back to shore in the morning to play and hang out. These dolphins are not in captivity or are in anyway enticed by people (not fed, drugged or trapped). They simply have a predictable schedule which makes them easy to meet up with. We wanted to have as private an experience as possible, but without deep pockets and given that it is a "touristy" activity, we had to put up with less, but it was still a blast.
We met at the office in town to check in at 4:30am. Here we got our gear (snorkel, mask, fins and wet suit) as well as brief instructions on safety and what we could do to attract the dolphins once we were in the water. This was also the place where we took the bus to take us to the boat. The gear itself made us look funny as you can imagine, but the stuff they suggested us to do to attract the dolphins; well, this was just down right hilarious. Let me explain as it is worth the visual! The idea is that we go out in the boat by 5:30am and start looking for school of fins swimming back to shore. Once we spotted the fins the boat will go several metres ahead of the group in the direction that they are headed and then we slide off the back of the boat and start swimming towards the dolphins that are swimming towards us. I don't care how many hours of training I have done in the water; they are dolphins, and if any type of swimming is going to be done with them, it will either be heading towards them or it they are stopped (...hmmm....sort of like I do when I swim in the fast lane of my Master's Club.....). Since the dolphins were heading into shore at a pretty fast rate; towards them was how we were going to experience them. So now, we are swimming towards them, but how do we get them to stay and play with us? Well, this is where we come in. You see, in the wild, in order to enjoy the wildlife, one must be entertaining enough for them to want to watch, not the other way around! So whether the crew told us what to do for their own entertainment or if it really actually worked, it sucked us in enough to try it. The best to do; as advised, is to act like "fun" dolphins. Also, dolphins like to be touched by other dolphins, but not so much by people. So here it is. You slide into the water, head for the fins that are swimming towards you at lightening speed with your arms by your side (so not to touch the dolphins). You swim with a dolphin kick and with your mask and snorkel on, look down at the bottom and start to make high pitched sounds. Okay, picture all of this and add in that you are wearing a 10mm wet suit that not only makes it impossible to drown, but it makes it impossible to even dive down into the water to even attempt a dolphin kick/swim. Now, one more thing, you are in salt water with swells and you are trying to dive down with your arms at your side. And there you have it. There we are, 10 of us flopping around in the water, sounding like a choir of mice off tune, chocking on salt water. Well, if I were a dolphin coming back from eating & getting ready to relax, I not only would not stop for these lunatics, but I would be swimming faster to get away!!!
Turns out that the dolphins have more empathy then me. We always saw them as they would swim right underneath us which was really cool, but by the third attempt, a group of three of them actually did stop and play a bit. Here we were in the middle of the sea, playing in a school of dolphins. With acting like a complete idiot and chocking on salt water aside; still a very memorable experience. They are so cute and friendly. My only complaint is that I would have loved to stay there all day. And, oh yeah, I would have loved not to have the wet suit on, but due to safety we had to wear them. Unfortunately, we do not have any good pictures of the dolphins or hilarious pictures or video footage of us, but this will always be in my memory books and if I got the chance again, I would do it! Just a tid bit of information; the only predator to the Dusky Dolphins are the Killer Whales, Orcas. And one more thing that you may know already, Orcas or Killer Whales, are not whales at all, they are actually dolphins. They usually eat Sting Ray liver, but will also eat Dusky Dolphins.Kaikoura itself is a very quaint and friendly place to stay. As in most places in New Zealand, the restaurants are great and there is never a short supply of fresh, non-endangered seafood. We had lunch at the Sonic and dinner at Hislops. Both outstanding and of course amazing service! There are so many things that New Zealand does right!
After swimming with the dolphins we headed back to Picton to catch a boat to Lockmara Lodge. This is located in the Queen Charlotte Islands that are off the coast of Picton. I guess comparable to the Gulf Islands off the mainland of Vancouver. We found this place in the Lonely Planet. It was a bit extravagant, but before we left our good friends had a "Going Away" party for us and gave us a "slush fund" allowing us to spoil ourselves sometime during our 5 months away. We did not agree with this generosity, but you can't fight your friends especially when they want to spoil you. So, we did keep this in mind and choose Lockmara Lodge to use this "slush fund". First of all, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to all our friends; it was truly amazing and we would not have done it if not for your gift.
Lockmara Lodge is only accessible by boat, is located on a small, private beach, they have amazing self-contained rooms that have balconies (well ours did, thanks to our friends), a restaurant with an outstanding chef and staff, accessible to the Queen Charlotte Track and the whole crew at Lockmara Lodge were fantastic. We spent 2 nights and 3 days there and it was complete and utter perfection! Yes, we relaxed, but also filled my need of a day hike on part of the Queen Charlotte Track, 
kayaked around the islands and saw Sting Rays and Shags, swam and just hung out in several of the hammocks that we
re spread throughout their property. One memory was on the first day when we were a little tired, we walked around the property and found a hammock for two, sort of half way up the ridge, in the forest, with 3 llamas grazing and a beautiful view of the bay. The weather was outstanding and Delia and I took the opportunity to lie down in the hammock, in peace together. We chatted a bit, slept a bit. We only stayed there for about an hour, but it was so quiet, so beautiful and just being there together relaxing, was amazing. You just don't get those moments that often. Even the llamas were relaxed!On the second day, we hiked part of the Queen Charlotte Track. Queen Charlotte Track goes from Anakiwa (in the west) to Ship Cove (in the east). Lockmara Lodge is closer to Anakiwa Bay, but pretty much in the middle. When we hiked to the top of "Hilltop", we got a beautiful view of both the Queen Charlotte Sound to the south and the Kenepuru Sound to the north. Pretty Spectacular!
Just to finish off our experience at Lockmara Lodge, we had breakfast and lunch on our deck everyday, we met several people (Canadians and Kiwis; surprise, surprise), we hiked, kayaked, played scrabble and just had the best time ever! We definitely went all out in the "relaxing thing"! Ahhhhh.....Life is good!After our Lockmara Lodge experience, we headed for Renwick via Blenheim to go to some wineries. Just for those wine lovers out there, we went to Lawson's Hill, Villa Maria and St. Clair (my favourite). We stayed one night at Watson's Way Lodge before heading back to Picton to catch the ferry to go to the North Island. As much as we were looking forward to the North Island, there was so much more to do on the South. And just like something I would say after licking the last little bit from a bowl of ice cream......."Please sir, may I have some more?"!
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