Australia & New Zealand Adventure Part IV: South Island, Picton-Kaikoura-Christchurch-Dunedin

I am in

Dunedin

and have a few

internet

minutes. Thetrip is still mind-boggling. I am sure I will calmdown in a few days and not feel the pressing need tobombard you all with such frequent letters!Our travels took us to the South island where we spentour first night in

Picton

(looked very similar to

Skagway

!). We journeyed on to the coast to

Kaikoura

and had the opportunity to rise at dawn and swim withwild dolphins in the ocean! It was mesmerizing.We woke at 5am and put on freezing cold wetsuits. Iwas sea-sick on the speed boat but it was soon allworthwhile. These dusky dolphins enjoy their humaninteraction and found us to be something of acuriosity. After several sweeps, swimming in circlesaround all of us in snorkel gear, a few responded tomy high-

pitched

singing in the water, and swam right upto me. Looking beneath me, I saw dolphins brush rightby my skin, a calf and its mother twisting andtumbling below me. One dolphin stared me right in theeye as we swam together in a large circle for whatmust have been eight repetitions. I couldn't believethat they could be so close and so real....Breathtakingly beautiful. Back on the ship we had an hour or so watching them"perform" including their magnificent acrobatics(apparently, dolphins are one of the few other animalsin the world who have sex for fun; the guide said thatdolphins nearly always leap and spin right afterfinishing the sexual act which is participated infrequently and with multiple partners!)On from

Kaikoura

, we travelled south to a wildernesscamp below Mt. Cook - one of the most spectacularmountains I have ever seen. I have been cycling a loton this tour 20 or 30k a day, and its really been agreat way to see the countryside off of the bus!Yesterday we took a hike in Mt Cook National Park to

Hooker Lake

; again, scenery and weather could not havebeen more satisfying.And I am finally feeling a little better...Thankgoodness! Went to the doctor in

Christchurch

where Iwas prescribed steroids for inflamed

bronchial

passages. They seem to be working...Got the rib putback in too - but my back is so messed up its just amatter of time before it falls out again. I've boughta

Theraband

to do my physical therapy as prevention!The physical pain has been quite a downer, but I amtrying hard to enjoy myself nonetheless, and with sucha great country and group to enjoy; its been easierthan it might have been.Last night, Giovanna and I went on a tour of a PenguinColony in

Oamaru

on the coast. We sat on a beach asthe sun went down and watched over 80 of the littledarlings waddling out of the ocean. They were socute, you just wanted to nuzzle one of them. That wasa highlight.Today we are in

Dunedin

; a beautiful seaside town thatlooks and feels very

scottish

.(the bus overheated onthe way here; it was very exciting, flames andeverything on the side of the road!)... I still have adate with coffee and cake, the photo shop, and a hatshop, so I better go for now!Going on a 3 day "tramp" in

Fjordland

next, so thenext update will be from

Queenstown

!