Christchurch & surrounds

Our rafting buddies
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Sadly Bette's last stop in New Zealand. We stayed one night in Christchurch then headed to Akoroa, the biggest town on the Banks Peninsula.

Dave & I went on a swimming with dolphins trip and we couldn't have been more lucky. We got to swim with hector dolphins (small grey ones) for almost an hour. It was amazing as there were eight to twelve dolphins playfully swimming all around us, coming so close you could have reached out and touched them. Not only that but as we climbed out of the water our guide said to us "Do you want to see some killer whales?", so off we sped in their direction. It was incredible- there was one large bull we saw from a distance and a couple of mothers with calves which we got right alongside. Our guides were really excited too as this only happens about five times a year. Wicked! On top of that the drive to and from the Banks Peninsula was filled with fantastic views.

Our raft in a big rapid - you can see us- Dave in the pink helmet, me in the green
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The day after Bette flew back to the UK we booked ourselves on a White Water Rafting trip on the Rangitata river - one and a half hours south of Christchurch. It was an enjoyable day, really professional and fun. We started off with easy grade 2-3 rapids and ended with a couple of grade 5 rapids which were a bit more hairy! Dave volunteered to go at the front which meant he had to work a bit harder and get a bit wetter than I did further back on the raft.