last week of March: MAAAAAAAAAAAA

The last weekend of March, my parents came to visit! We spent the first two days in Kaikora, which is my favorite area in New Zealand. There's heaps of birds and one of the only places where there's mammalian wildlife....aka SEALS AND WHALES.

The weather was gorgeous! My dad and I went on a cliff track which went along a seal colony. BUT! the first part was up the cliff into a cow pasture. mud pies, no fun.

We then decided to climb down the cliff and make our way to the car along the coastline.

problem number: tide was coming in

problem number two: seals were everywhere. and they get mean.

We had to hop along a couple places to avoid the tide. I ALMOST stepped on a seal. There was this one blind spot and a seal was peacefully sleeping right where my foot was about to land. Luckily, my screen didn't alarm him too much....

The next day we went whale watching, which I never thought I would ever do. We took this rocky boat out 3 km off shore and waited for about 20 minutes or so. I'd like to think that I saw the blow hole first, but who knows. Apparently male Sperm whales congregate in Kaikora that time of year. Currently, I think it's hump back whale season. This is due to the drop off of the continental shelf.

Anywayss!! Here he is!

The tour ended a tad early. So in order to kill some time, the tour company drove us by a huge school of dolphins. hundreds and hundreds of dolphins flipping, flopping, and mopping! It was nuts.

We ended the days with a brisk walk in a native forest and a big meal and cable TV. yum :)

The last day, I took them around my campus and to Christchurch, which was very nice too.

And this one is for Jessica. Cheers.