Last day on the South Island

Hey everyone....Well today was another magnificent day! Before I tell you about it...you have to hear about the past few days...since I left Christchurch...we decided to head back to the west side to see if we might try and escape the rain...the weather here moves from east to west and south to north. To my good luck....the plan worked! We spent the past two days driving back and forth across the upper part of the South Island! Had sun most of the time..with a few spells of rain here and there! This was the most wonderful thing! I am certain that my prayers were answered because the past three days were absolutely perfect. After heading to the west coast for the day(yes I stopped at my new favorite brewerey), we stopped in this valley to make some dinner. Just as I picked this spot...the air was beginning to mist some rain and two of the most beautiful rainbows appeared in the valley with mountains surrounding us on all sides! I couldn't believe my luck! I could actually see the end points where the pot of gold was! If we had driven just a couple more kms down the road...they wouldn't have been visable! The sun broke through the clouds perfectly over my little valley! During the time we made dinner and cleaned up...these rainbows appeared and reappeared a number of times! By the time the day was over...I called this spot the valley of rainbows! And it was all mine.....this road was not heavily traveled through, and a couple kms in either direction...you couldn't see the rainbows. I felt as though I was in heaven and couldn't believe how amazing these rainbows were...and yes I have more great pics to show you to prove it! These will come with the pictures of the waterfalls on my next series of photos from the south island!
Now, yesterday I spent the entire day in the hot springs of Hanmer Springs...and I know I don't have to explain how wonderful it is to spend the day soaking in the mineral- rich waters? But the best of the best happened today! We were in Kaikoura, which is back on the east side of the island....and this area is a great marine sanctuary. The reason for this...is due to the shape of the shelf of the ocean off the peninsula. The ocean drops 800 meters right near the coast. This is rare to have such deep depth so close to the shore! The currents that move through the area cause huge areas of upwelling! To those who don't know what this means....it means areas of very nutrient rich water, which make it a marine paridise! The animals love the deap water that are full of krill and all sorts of fish for them to feed on! Every part of the food chain in the oceans are found in this area, including whales and dolphins! So today at the last minute...I told Jayme that the dolphin encounter looked really neat and we had just enough time to jump on the last boat out for the day. In this cruise you get the chance to see Dusky dolphins up close (they are only found in the southern hemisphere!) We decided to only do the observation from the boat and not swim because it was more money! Well--- As soon as we get out.....we spot killer whales! This is my favorite of all marine mammals and I have never seen them in the wild! I was going crazy! They were so beautiful and our guides told us this was a very unique experience and only happens maybe once every month or so! I couldn't believe my luck again! We saw a pod, of males and females with several juviniles! I almost cried they were so beautiful! Then we go to see if we can catch up with the Dusky dolphins....we finally catch some and I am shooting loads of pictures from the front of the boat when the tour lady asks if we wished we would have done the swimming? I tell her yeah, but this is nice too....well she says..since a couple people got sea-sick...she has some extra wet suits if we want to jump in! I am like hell-yeah...I throw on the top of the wet suit vest and jump in, with only that and a mask, fins, and snorkel, and my skirt....in minutes I am in the cold water not even noticing the water temperature as these Dusky dolphins are swimming right by me! What a magical day.....and yeah I have lots of great photos...and can't wait to post them! Greg...thanks for the update! I am glad that you are doing so good in Charleston...are you working on your masters now or PhD? Joy...thanks for the update on the stars..some of this I knew, but I can't beleive that Danny beat out Stephanie...she must have made some enemies...that sucks I really wanted her to win! Oh well....Laurie...I am so glad to hear that you started your own blog....after I make this post I am going to check it out! 10 days till X-mas everyone! Love to all!