Day 6 - Halloween Comes Early!!

After a few days of the parks we decided to take a day off and relax, check out other resorts, play around, pool hop, whatever. We got up and had a breakfast at the Polynesian Resort and hung out in a hammock on the beach for a bit. We continued our day of Resort Hopping at the Grand Floridian, then Monorailed over to the new Contemporary DVC Villas for an open house.

From there we took another monorail to EPCOT and transferred to a bus over to the Old key West resort. It was beautiful and looked like a nice little neighborhood. If you had a car it would be fine, but otherwise there are too many bus stops and the resort is too spread out. The last resort we visited was my old favorite, Disney's Coronado. Sadly, they have made many changes that have (in my view) ruined the things I enjoyed about this place.

We then worked our way back Home (the Lodge) and started getting ready for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

The party was fun! However, there were many more people than last year and it was much warmer/more humid, so it was not quite as fun as last year. After the second parade, the crowds thinned out and the park was a bit easier to navigate.

The weather today was… Hot and very muggy

The best thing today was… All day! Resort hopping, MNSSHP, the fireworks, the parade... everything.

The worst thing today was… Going back the Coronado and seeing all of the (negative) changes they made... sad.

The funniest thing today was… At MNSSHP, seeing the odd grouping of: Snow White, the Evil Queen/Stepmother, one singular Dwarf that was bigger & taller than the rest of the group and...Betty Rubble! All walking in a group together! Seriously, who that of that dynamic?

Today we tried… Checking out the Contemporary DVC Resort.

And the result was… It was actually pretty cool, much better than we expected. Very "what the future will be like" as imagined in the '60s. We decided we could stay there a night or two some time, just for the coolness factor and the convenience of being right on the Monorail.

The most magical moment today was… Sitting in a hammock at the Polynesian Resort on the beach, just relaxing together.

Apparently not only is New Zealand always with is in our hearts, it followed us to the Polynesian Resort as well. Sweet.

Not pictured: Dawn and Darren in a beach hammock.

MNSSHP Fireworks show. The projections onto the castle really set the mood.

Us after hours and hours of walking and sweating. Oh - and Trick or Treating - awesome!

MNSSHP Parade - Haunted Mansion Grave Diggers Dance

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Day 5 - Around the Lodge and into the future!

We got up early, and joined 'Ranger Stan' for a historical tour of the Wilderness Lodge (our hotel). After that, we packed up our stuff and headed over to EPCOT's Future World where we played games and rode a few rides. From there we headed to Animal Kingdom and rode more rides and checked out the animals and the parade!

The weather today was… Overcast but still very hot.

The best thing today was… The Lodge Tour with Ranger Stan

The worst thing today was… Everest for me (Darren); just didn't work for me this time.

The funniest thing today was… Some lady being actually afraid of a duck.. seriously a DUCK!

Today we tried… The bar in our resort (Territory Lounge).

And the result was… it was OK, the food was a bit overpriced, but it was relaxing enough and we had fun.

The most magical moment today was… Relaxing and watching WALL-E in bed after a long day.

Dsquared on the hunt.

The amazing level of detail in Animal Kingdom.

Spankin' the monkey Jungle Style!

Ranger Stan - Our Tour of the Lodge guide.

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Day 3 - Taking a day off... yeah right.

Today we did, well... nothing. OK that is not entirely true. Actually, we decided to take a break from Disney and just relax a bit. We went out, did a little shopping and stayed away from the parks and insanity for a day. Afterwards, we headed back to our rooms to change for our dinner in Downtown Disney at the House of Blues.

The weather today was… Hot.. not as muggy as usual, but sunny and very hot

The best thing today was… Finally getting our packages and mail!

The worst thing today was… Running for a bus at a far off stop, only to discover we ran right past a very close stop. Yep... it would have come right to us.

The funniest thing today was… My finding a noise that made Dawn laugh over and over. Very useful, thank you Kevin the bird.

Today we tried… To escape the parks and relax for a day.

And the result was… Well, we did get away from the parks, but I do not think we actually did any relaxing.

The most magical moment today was… Dawn finally finding the brown sweater we have been hunting for (for months!).

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Day 2 - Into the Future!

Today we got up and split our day between Disney Hollywood Studios (still MGM to Dawn) and EPCOT! We spent a large portion of our time at PIXAR place in DHS and hopped on Toy Story Midway twice. In the evening we had dinner at the Rose and Crown Pub in EPCOT.

The weather today was… Hot, humid and sunny.

The best thing today was… Meeting and having random chats with some very nice people.

The worst thing today was… Idiots +water= almost ruined camera... long story, but we will leave it with me almost having to kill a man... enough said. [Dawn: I *may* have dropped the F-bomb near a child.]

The funniest thing today was… The Luxor Jr Lamp dancing to music and the sad face when "country music" came on. Awesome!

Today we tried… Dawn tried the Tower of Terror!

And the result was… OK, a bit shaky afterwards, but she lived to tell about it.

The most magical moment today was… Character interactions (green plastic army man making me do pushups) and the UP characters.

Hoist that line men! The level of detail they put into theming is amazing.

Check this out.. so clever. For the record, the green army men and the song "You've got a friend in me" are both from Toy Story. Makes more sense now doesn't it?

Have you seen UP? No then this won't make any sense, but we LOVE Kevin!!!

Carl and Russell from UP. Amazing detail on these characters.

Everywhere I go... it's always drop and give me 20! [Dawn: this happened right after we got to the park! Darren had wanted a picture with the Army men, but I don't think he imagined this scenario...]

Luxor Jr. dancing to the music... apparently he doesn't like Polka music.

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First Day - Magic Kingdom

Today we had our first full day in Walt Disney World! Woohooo! Though we started a bit late (still jet lagged) we spent 12 hours in Magic Kingdom and didn't get back to our room until 12:30.

The weather today was… Really hot and sunny, but it turned cooler and pleasantly overcast later in the day.

The best thing today was… Our Jungle Cruise Captain was very funny... best one yet! Also the overcast weather made it a very pleasant first day.

The worst thing today was… "No flash Photography!" Why people do not get this concept on rides we do not understand.

The funniest thing today was… A little girl behind us asking her dad after every firework that went off, "Is that the finale... is THAT the finale?"

Today we tried… Disney's Hall of Presidents.

And the result was… In Dawn's words,"Meh... not that impressed". The animatronics were very lifelike, but the resemblances to the actual persons were not that great.

The most magical moment today was… Our personal calmness in the face of all the chaos. We are amazed at how relaxed we are these days compared to all of the other people freaking out over the little things, especially while we waited for almost an hour for our dinner reservations. For those that know us, that's pretty darn magical.

Apparently there is no Disco Dancing allowed on Disney rides!

How many pachyderms can you stack?

We loved this sign, so true so true.

See... told you! For the record, the position of the pieces is such that every move leads to another which leads back to a stalemate over and over. Cool huh. They died playing. And you thought you were competitive!

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Travel Day - Here we go!

Hi everyone! I know we haven't posted in a while. It's the funny thing about life - if you're doing lots of cool stuff, there's no time to write about it. I promise we will update on all that stuff soon. In the meantime, we are back at Walt Disney World to celebrate our third anniversary (yes, we know we said we wouldn't be back for a while, but we bought into the DVC!).

Ok, moving on - like we did last year, we will update the blog following the pages of our Passporter(simple and informative):

Today was a "Travel Day" -

The weather when we left was… Cold, windy and overcast (Wellington).

The weather when we arrived was... Overcast, hot and muggy (Orlando).

For the record, LA was kind of cold for the few hours we were there!

The best thing today was… Timing and good seats on flights. Our room at the Renaissance LAX.

The worst thing today was… US Airways Crew Members. The pilot's horrible landings; obese, unprofessional and unkempt flight crew. Standards have seriously dropped.

The funniest thing today was… Electric Zombie Kitten (scary kid's life-like kitten toy)

Honestly, the way this thing moved looked like a Zombie! Fuckin' Creepy!

Today we tried… a hotel instead of the lounge during our 8 hour layover

And the result was… a great idea, we will do this again (especially at this hotel)

The most magical moment today was… All of the service people at the Renaissance Hotel. It sounds silly but they gave us a hint of Disney Customer Service long before we arrived in Disney. The shuttle driver was quite organised, and helpful to everyone he came across and the handyman who fixed our A/C unit was friendly and attentive (came back to check in on us).

[Dawn here: We had a bit of a wait when we arrived at our WDW hotel, but in the end, received the exact room we had requested. It's beautiful and quiet, and has a lovely view of the lake.]

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W.T.F.!!! of the Week!

OK, so if you know me, you know Halloween is my favorite Holiday.  You will also know that Walt Disney World is my favorite place to be.  Combine the two and you have a very long conversation from me about trick or treating in the Magic Kingdom.  Yes I have done it, yes I love it, yes we are doing it again this year.  Stop laughing, we are moving on...

Now we are finalizing the details for our trip and I decide (as I do on a regular basis) that I should start looking at costumes.  Yes I dress up for the party, again...  stop laughing, we are moving on...

In my search for unique and interesting costumes I came across this little gem that rightfully deserves the WHAT THE FUCK award for most disturbing and expensive costume ever!

This Beast (from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) has got to be the most bizarre interpretation of a character I have ever seen.  It borders somewhere between the Creepy Old Man from Family Guy and a Stroke Victim.  What was the designer thinking?  Anyone with $1,000 is too dumb to know what ugly means???

Seriously, look at that thing!  It looks awful, uncomfortable and never mind the fact that is has 2 testicles hanging off its chin!

I just had to share it.  Enjoy!

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Where the hell are my teeth???

Technically they are currently residing in a pill bottle in my bag after having 5 of them removed last night. Yep, after a few weeks of misery I finally went through with it and had teeth removed. Now this is my first time, so I can not compare the event to one in the US, however I am attempting to explain how it worked here in NZ. For the purpose of time and energy (I am a bit tired today) I will omit anything regarding insurance info, etc.

For this to work I have to start a few weeks back. I was having tooth pain and one of my teeth cracked (don't ask). Anyway it was a pretty annoying, throbbing kind of pain that got worse and worse. Finally I broke down over the weekend and called Dentist #1 at Symes Desilva. As it turns out there are a few Dental places that are open on weekends, but this was the one I could get an appointment with in an emergency and wasn't ridiculously priced. That day I was brought in and advised that 4 wisdom teeth and the broken tooth had to come out. I was then advised of the price, at which point I laughed (hard to do with a mouth full of cotton and tools), went home and decided to see if insurance would cover this. As a side note, Symes De Silva was very efficient, and very good. The bedside manner was a little lacking, but what do you expect for the price and timing? The final price was about $90. Not too bad in an emergency.

I had then decided I should seek out alternative options in the " knock me out and get this thing out of my head category", since Symes De Silva only does pills and locals(not enough for me), and I was still waiting on insurance.

I then headed to Dentist #2 - The Gentle Dental (no website just contact #'s) for a 2nd checkup and got my 2nd opinion verified plus full X-Rays and a referral for about $100; also not bad. If you do go here, don't let the building or front office fool you (it doesn't look that posh), they are very good, have a great chair-side manner and are very helpful. The dentist even went over all of the particulars with the digital X-Rays, so there were no guesses involved.

Afterwards, I found out that insurance does in fact cover at least some of the operation if:

a) it is NEEDED

b) it is performed by an oral surgeon

c) you are fully unconscious

OK that last one wasn't so much an insurance requirement as a Darren requirement.

Next Stop? Oral Surgeon. Wayne Gillingham of Wellington Oral Surgery Ltd was very good, very efficient (if not a little too fast) and knew what he was doing. Though he spoke and worked very quickly (I felt a little rushed) I was very comfortable and relaxed as he explained both the good and possible bad points of the operation. I was advised at this point that I could be FULLY UNCONSCIOUS. Woohooo! I walked away nervous but happy to have it finally on its way and for only $200 (which insurance will cover a large portion of, thankfully).

The final stop was yesterday afternoon's trip to Boulcott Hospital at 3:00pm for a 5 part tooth extraction. Big Fun! Was I nervous? Yes. Was I hungry/thirsty? yes (nothing to eat or drink after 7:30am), was I drugged? Hell yes! After going over the paperwork and telling Dawn I loved her I was taken to the operating room, where the best IV I have ever had ( I literally felt NOTHING and that was pre-drugs) was put in, we talked for a few minutes and then I was out cold.

I woke up with what was described to me as short term amnesia, having no idea where I was or how I got there for a few minutes. My brain began functioning in its semi-normal state and all was well. I was returned to my room and loving wife to pass out intermittently for a few hours.

They gave me my teeth, took out the IV, walked me through the plethora of drugs I could take to dull the pain and swelling and called for our friend Mike to come get us. (Thanks again bro!)

My teeth were given to me in a pill container (which I apparently, though, have know memory of doing), shook them at Dawn just to gross her out. Yep even drugged out I am a sick bastard.

So... now it is the next day not quite 24 hours since I went under the knife. I am a bit swollen and eating soft foods, but feeling much better. The slight pain I feel now I know will get a little worse but will still be better that then agonizing pain I was going through, so that's nice. Hoping all will be well for Tuesday when I go back to my students. Oh yes... I am teaching now, but that will be for my next post to explain. Check out the ice-pack/head gear I get to wear - very sexy.

In the end I learned not be afraid of Dentists, they are not all bad and do a shit job for a decent amount of money (like lawyers, only without the tails and horns ... hehehe). Thanks for reading and hope it helps some of you. Drop me a line if you have any questions or want referrals to anything.

[Editor's note: the surgery and surgeon consultation costs were covered under the general surgery clause of the private insurance I receive through my employer. We have not opted for dental insurance, and even private health insurance is relatively rare in New Zealand. -dawn]

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Music you probably never knew existed.

... and maybe you will be happier for it, but what the hell, I like it.

Ok seriously, you ever decide to go to a concert and the headlining band is pretty good or even great, but one or two of the opening bands leaves you standing there with your mouth wide open? Well this one goes out to all of "those bands". The ones that you probably have never heard of and probably should because they are awesome.

Sure the music may not be to your usual taste, but give it a try, check out a few songs and yes (shameless plug) buy their stuff and keep them playing.  

Let me also say that it has taken me a long time to write this, so please excuse any punctuation and/or spelling errors.  This is music class people, not english.  That's next period!

First I will start of with my friends. What, come on you would too!

Sirsy has been around for quite a few years now. I met them at a gig in Upstate New York, in Albany during Artscape. While the number and range of the band has changed dramatically over the years, the sound that they produce has always managed to jump off the stage and wrap you up in amazingly tight rhythms, lyrics and general stage presence.
 Check out their media page and listen to some of their work. If you like pop/Rock and can't resist a female vocalist that can croon like Nina Simone as well as howl like Janis Joplin (yes really), you will really dig Sirsy.

So, anyone who knows me (and Dawn as well) knows I love Irish and Scottish Music. Give me bagpipes and a fiddle and I am a very happy listener (again, yes really).  Now say you want to throw in a banjo, an accordion, some drums, a bass and a few kick ass riffs on a guitar and what do you have!  Awesomeness!  Or on other words, the Dropkick Murphys!  Dropkick has been around for a long time and have evolved from low end punk band to amazing Irish roots band that moves between genres, from Dylan-esque rhythms to the sex pistols crunch and yells.   How good are they, well in the middle of poor health and the death of his wife (Deirdre), they managed to get Ronnie Drew (from The Dubliners), Spider Stacy (from The Pogues) and their whole band together to record their own amazing take on the tradition all Lannigans Ball (Flannigan's Ball).  This once in a lifetime compilation is loud and raucous and features both Ronnie and Spider's unique voices alongside Dropkicks' Al and Ken.  This band aside form being all very talented musicians are also class act, stand up guys and a lot of fun to hang out with.  We opened for the a few times and would never miss a show if they were close enough.  Thanks for the music guys!  

While we are on an Irish kick and talking about friends, if you like something rockin' but not so heavy as Dropkick, check out Flogging Molly.  This band mixes traditional instruments with guitars and the like to give a punk-lite show that merges from bluegrass to rock, all with a a very liberal/Irish flair.  They put on a great show and always aim to get their audience up and about.  In fact the last show we saw them at, lead singer Dave King had the flu and managed to hold it together for a couple of hours of playing.  What a professional!

Now those that really know Dawn and I know our often STRANGE tastes in music and this next band is NO exception.

Gogobordello is essentially a pirate circus put to music and run through amps till you have no choice but to walk the plank, the tight-rope or just scream at the top of your lungs.  The best part is that if you choose the later you may find your fitting right in with the rhythms of this amazing Gypsy punk band.  Seriously, this is one of the most amazing and most bizarre shows I have ever been to and if you know me you know I have seen some crazy sh*t!  Don't believe me that this is some amazing nutty stuff?  Check it out and listen for yourself!  Remember this is louder stuff and unique because of it's band and lead singer Eugene's Russo-Ukranijano-Romano heritage.  

Gypsy punk is a genre I had never heard of until they opened for Flogging Molly and Dawn and I went crazy for them after that.  Seriously people, even if the music doesn't really appeal to you, go see this show, you will be amazed!

OK, so that wraps up part 1 of Music you probably didn't know existed.  I am certain there will be a part 2 to this post, but since it has taken be the better part of 4 months to get off my butt and finish this post, it may be a while.  Let me know what you think of the bands and if you want any recommendations about sings or albums to check out, give us a shout.

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Fringe Festival 2009

What is the Fringe Festival? From the website, the Festival is described as:

Incorporated in 1993, The Fringe Arts Trust will be presenting its 16th Fringe Festival in 2009. The festival has grown from small beginnings to over one hundred events in more than 50 venues all over the Wellington region.

Fringe Festival is recognised as a unique creative launch pad for the arts in New Zealand. Fringe is an open access festival, meaning anyone can produce a show or a creative project and be involved in this annual event.

Hundreds of volunteers and local members of the community donate their time to helping promote and produce the festival each year. We are a much loved part of the New Zealand arts calendar, with a strong brand that is recognised internationally for innovation in art and the creative spirit of Kiwi ingenuity.

The New Zealand Fringe Festival releases the most concentrated mix of new talent, in all arts mediums in the greater Wellington region – 3 exciting weeks of pure Fringe creative genius! Approximately 60,000 festival-goers are treated to the sharpest stand-up, theatre, visual arts, live music, basement productions and cutting-edge multi-media.

Our first Fringe was back in 2007, just a couple of months after moving here. We had no idea how extensive it was, or even which plays to choose from. We ended up going to one of the best plays we have ever seen (to date!) - Lovers of Central Park (I wrote about it in this post.) - which cemented our love for the Fringe.

Last year we were better prepared, and saw some fantastic plays and comedy acts. This year, the Festival covered the entire month of February with heaps more shows than years prior!

We have already seen 9 plays/comedy acts, and have one more to see this weekend. Some have been good, one was terrible, and another was easily the best show in the Festival. Since most of the shows we saw have ended their runs, I'm only going to review the best show in the Festival (and lucky for all you Wellington readers, the show is still running!).

The show I speak of is Adam Page Solo at the Downstage Theatre. The description on the Fringe website was enough to pique our interest, and admittedly, this was the one show that Darren looked forward to the most. Defying the odds, it surpassed all expectations!

Adam has had several good reviews, but the one on texture says it best:

As well as being a demonstration of a phenomenal musical talent, Adam Page Solo is side-splittingly funny. You're taken on a genre-spanning musical journey - one where you suspect neither performer or audience knows what will happen next. Indeed, a good portion of the show is clearly improvised; throughout his set you constantly feel as if Page is deciding on the fly which instrument (there are 15 of them) he'll play next. And one major set piece features him asking the audience for musical genre suggestions, then mashing them all together. On my night, this resulted in a genius combination of "nursery rhyme", "Bollywood", and "techno!"

As per the poster, Page also busts out a vegetable. Normally I understand he uses a carrot - for New Zealand audiences he's selected something different. A local favourite if you will.

I'll sum it up like this - if you love music, you must go and see this show. You might even find that your new favourite band is made up of just one guy: Adam Page.

During our show, he combined Swing, Broadway musical, Gregorian Chants AND Punk - all in one song! And it was fabulous. Adam has a great stage presence; he is very comfortable performing (it's almost like watching a big kid playing with his favorite toys), funny and quite nice too.

If you haven't seen him, book your ticket now! He has 6 more shows at the Downstage Theatre starting tonight. Just to give you a bit more incentive, here is a video (taken with his permission) of him playing a local vegetable.



Yes, that's right...as well as playing 15 other instruments, the man makes an instrument out of a frickin' vegetable and and plays a song with it. Convinced now?

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New Year's Holiday: Picton

Part 2 of 2!  Most of our holiday was spent in Kaikoura, but we did stay over one night in Picton.  We arrived in the early afternoon, so I planned for us to go on a twilight kayaking tour.  This was a big deal for me, since (1) I can't swim, (2) the kayaking takes place in the sea, and (3) I don't like to be in water where things live.

We had a few hours to roam around after we checked into our (seemingly) lovely hotel, so we decided to go to the highly touted Aquarium.  EcoWorld Aquarium - what a great name, right?They had lots of cute signs outside of the building and cute advertisements in NZ travel brochures.  Since we had such a great experience at the Christchurch Aquarium last year, we were ok with the entry price of $17.  Besides, this aquarium had a preserved giant squid!  And Tuatara!

Once we walked through the doors, though, we knew we had made a mistake.  The aquarium can only be described as a very sad, very old, repurposed YMCA.  All of the fish and reptiles seemed to be begging us to kill them (or at least set them free).  We initially thought these turtles were confused about sex, but we decided the one climbed on the other to try to crush him to death as an act of mercy.

Look at those eyes pleading for freedom!

We didn't take a picture of the "giant squid" because we couldn't see it.  The (very, very dirty) glass case where it was encased could have contained anything - or nothing at all - there's no telling, really.

They did have a video called "In Search of the Giant Squid".  We caught it late, and watched for about 10 minutes or so until it ended....with no giant squid in sight.  A couple in front of us had watched the entire 30 minute video!  To be fair, the video wasn't called "Finding the Giant Squid", or "Hey Look, There's a Giant Squid"...

To get over the horror that was 'EcoWorld', we wandered around the lovely Picton waterfront until it was time for our kayaking tour.  Like Darren's horseback riding picture, my first-time kayaking picture is equally non-existent.  But here is Darren with the kayak after the 3 1/2 hour tour. 

During the tour, we kayaked out to the little island in the foreground.  It was a gorgeous evening!  Turns out I really like kayaking once I forget that I'm on the open sea where a shark could turn over the kayak and eat me. 

After a sleepless night in our lovely hotel that happened to be a block away from the railroad tracks and an (apparently) all-night skateboard park, we wandered around the beautiful waterfront of Picton before catching the Ferry -

On the way to the Ferry landing, we passed this old boat that is being restored (or has been restored..?).  We could have spent some money to get more information, but we didn't care that much.

On our way home, with one last look back to Picton...

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New Year's Holiday: Kaikoura

Yes, our holiday was well over a month ago, and I even uploaded these pictures right after we got back from our trip. It's taken me all this time to think of some clever commentary to go along with them (hope you aren't expecting too much!)...

As some of you may remember, we were in Kaikoura for one night over New Year's last year. This year we stayed a few more days in hopes of going whale-watching. Well, not so much 'hope' as 'determined', but in the end the result was the same as last year: the water conditions were too harsh for the boat.

We loved our time in Kaikoura despite the choppy sea and the inefficient whale watching company. It's a lovely little town halfway between Picton (where the Ferry lands) and Christchurch (the place where people base themselves to see surrounding towns because it doesn't have much to offer).

Kaikoura, literally 'food'(kai)/'crayfish' has it all: snow-capped mountains, beaches, and an un-ending view of the ocean. Oh! And a Monteith's bar. :)

Like most towns in New Zealand, Kaikoura has a skate park for kids and adults alike. This one has a spectacular view:

A little ways down the beach is this awesome chair...

...with its own fantastic view.

We don't have a car - this isn't news, right? Our favorite hotel in Kaikoura is about a 40 minute (flat, straight) walk from town. Along the way are many other hotels/B&Bs, as well as private homes with front gardens. Check out these flowers!

One evening, we headed out to the afore-mentioned Monteith's bar, and discovered they had a beer tree! An entire tree of BEER! It included 6 of the Monteith's beers and one other beer they have on tap. I think I drank two, maybe 2 1/2. Darren graciously finished off the rest.

On the way back, we noticed a couple of people staring at a tree...only to find a few birds (Shags) were all lined up on the branches:

Darren had never been horseback riding before (called simply horse riding, or horse trekking here), and it had been on his list of 'things to do' for quite a while. I found the Fyffe ranch online - they offer treks into the woods/across rivers, as well as sunset rides into the mountains (when it's not too windy).

This is the only picture we took! The camera was stowed for safekeeping, and in our rush to get back to town for our whale watching cruise that was (later) canceled, we didn't snap a photo of Darren on a horse. You'll just have to believe us.

After the third and final failed attempt to go whale watching, we headed back to the hotel. The whale watching company is in the same building as the tiny railway station, which has a gigantic parking lot where people seem to just hang out.

And we came across this scene...and just imagined that the seagulls were waiting for the woman to drop the baby...!

Back at our hotel, we walked the few feet to the beach to capture the beauty of Kaikoura.

Pictured here: not a whale.

With the windows open at night, we could hear the crashing surf -

Night-night, Kaikoura!

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