Sydney Itinerary: Whale Watching

We really lucked out on the day we chose to go whale-watching in Sydney. The captain found a pair of humpback whales that were doing a phenomenal amount of splashing, tail- and fin-slapping, and breaching. He said it was the most activity he'd seen in almost ten years of doing the job. We followed them for over an hour, and they kept it up the whole time. They also started attracting other whales to the area. It was rocky out there, and even I started getting seasick by the end of the three-hour cruise, but I think it was worth it. And I managed to get some nice pictures of their activity!

 

Then we walked through the Botanic Gardens and got dinner in Darling Harbor in the evening. This is what a day outdoors in Sydney can be like...

South Island Itinerary: Akaroa

Even though the French-themed town of Akaroa (45 minutes south of Christchurch) is quite small and mostly consists of a few tourist shops and cafes, it is well worth going on the harbor and dolphin cruises there. This was my second time out, and with sunny weather and two playful Hector's dolphins, it can't really be beat for a good afternoon.

 

Luna Park

We stayed in Sydney for another week because of a conference. It's a good city to hang out in, definitely, and easy to get around because of the good public transportation. We saw Star Wars again in IMAX (world's biggest screen, couldn't resist) and went to the Museum of Sydney's Lego exhibit which was cool. We hadn't heard of Luna Park before seeing it recreated in Lego and decided to check it out on a later day. It is an amusement park on the other side of the harbor that has gone through all kinds of struggles and shut downs before being opened again due to popular support. 

We went to an opal shop that had a little museum area with lots of beautiful opals that have been discovered in Australia to redeem the 'free gift' coupon in one of the tourism books in the hotel, and sure enough, they took one look at our age and backpacks and ignored us (besides one offhand comment about our backpacks), even though I was interested in buying something. Loss for them. The guy behind the counter was so clearly not wanting to help us and just pulled out the lapel pins and was done. I find it really frustrating how people judge others -- especially in these kinds of stores -- based on what they look like. That's why we young people like to shop online!! They'll all be out of business likely anyway, so they can go on being rude if they want. I still got something free out of the deal.

 

 

 

Swimming with Dolphins in Akaroa

We had visitors in town so had the opportunity to show them around the South Island and Sydney. Not everyone is into the extreme adventure activities that the tourism industry likes to tout, so I had the challenge of finding fun outdoor things that were low-key and planning around the busy tourism season with accommodation and bookings. Overall their trip went well in spite of the off and on New Zealand weather.

First we went to Akaroa to go swimming with dolphins. The harbor has one of the world's smallest one, the Hector's dolphin, which has a silver body and black stripe and rounded fins. We spotted lots of them in different pods and saw several babies which were very cute. It was a beautiful, clear day with sunshine and warmth, so even though the dolphins weren't interested in getting super close to us, we got to see them near us in the water a few times. We also had a harbor tour included and saw blue penguins, seals, an albatross, and beautiful rock formations (that looks like Mars). We went for fish and chips afterward and went home after a full day out.

blue penguins

Hector's dolphins

 

cormorants/shags on the rocks

seals

albatross