Day #24. Kaikoura.

$160 to swim with dolphins?!  No thanks, I'll just sneak into sea world which is about 5 miles from my house.  Or get on a sailboat to Catalina Island and watch 20 of them jump around at the bow.  I'm now in Kaikoura, sea life capital of New Zealand.  The area is famous for their whale, seal, and dolphin watching expeditions.  Most people from the bus are doing the swimming with dolphins thing.  As for myself, I think my last 2 days in NZ will be spent riding around on my free bicycle, hanging out at the beach, and exploring the quirky village.  Perhaps I'll throw in a little ocean adventure of some sort tomorrow.

Oh!  So about this free bike.  The couple who runs the hostel I'm staying at - Albatross Backpackers Inn - take old parts from other bikes and fix up the jalopies they already have.  Old bike parts + disintegrated frames = a contraption that is barely ridable.   After I got checked into my new room, I went for a quick ride to the New World Market for some groceries.  The gears and brake levers were screwed on at different angles and the back wheel was a bit wobbly.  As I was coasting down a slight hill, a couple tried to cross in front of me, and I yelled out "Stop!! The brakes on this thing barely work… sorry!"  They quickly jumped back onto the sidewalk.  "No worries", they said.  No one has any worries in NZ.  Ever.  Made it back to my hostel.  Alive.  Almost veered into a telephone pole on the way back cuz it's so hard to steer.  It's like the bike is possessed or something.

Aside from the transportation situation, this hostel is sikkkkkk.  I have never in my life been to one quite so cool.  You walk in, and there's a table in the foyer with "what to do in Kaikoura" books (handmade), a basket with "free clothes" in it, and a chalkboard advertising their weekly Sunday night BBQ for $5.  Must be a good one too cuz there's a couple of kids staying an extra night just to get the BBQ (they've been at this hostel a week now).  Then you come to the black and red themed kitchen.  It's got a huge "free" shelf with tons of baking ingredients, things like salt and oil, seasonings, and other random things.  Lined up in a row on the far-side are about 6 recycling bins, labeled for hard plastic, soft plastic, paper, glass, food, etc.  They are very green at this hostel.  On the counter are a few glass jars filled with Fair Trade tea, coffee, and hot chocolate that are free to everyone.  Then there is the "cozy corner", the place designated as the music and reading corner complete with heaps of pillows, instruments, and a shelf full of used/traded books.  They even have an "art corner" with an easel and an array of art supplies.  The walls are covered in paintings, most by backpackers themselves who have come through and created their unique donation.  To top it all off are the soft, squishy, velvet couches.  This place is INSANE!!!!  Did I mention their herb and tomato garden out front?  Rosemary, thyme, mint, basil, little red tomatoes… well, they weren't actually red but green due to the starving backpackers having already stuffed any ripe ones into their eager mouthes.  I was lucky enough to get a 4-bed dorm which was, as expected, clean and ever so cute.

That evening I picked some mint sprigs from the herb garden, and to that I added cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta, lemon, and olive oil.  A plate loaded with spring greens, topped with my Greek salad, and paired with a glass of cheap NZ Sauvignon Blanc… delicious.  Some girls had done quite a bit of baking earlier to try and raise money for Christchurch, so I put $5 in the jar and helped myself to two warm, gooey chocolate fudge cookies and a vanilla cupcake topped with icing and mini marshmallows.  As I was eating my sweets, I heard music coming through the front door.  Went out to check the situation.  Two Swiss guys were playing guitars and singing "More Than Words".  I joined in, then a German girl started singing too, and a Swiss girl, and a guy from Holland.  Before too long we had a regular choir going.  Someone started banging around on some bongos.  We sang everything from Kings of Leon to Bob Dylan, Metallica to Red Hot Chili Peppers (again, why are they so dang popular around here??)  Everyone was singing at the top of their lungs, attempting harmonies, dancing, and most enchanting of all… laughing.  The 2 universal languages, simultaneously, shared by travelers from all over the world.  I didn't crash that night until past midnight.  And they were still going at it!

Plan:  beach bum around Kaikoura, check out the shops/used book store, whale watch?

Budget: $28 hostel, $3 Willy Wonka sherbet fizzlers and grape twisties, $7 Subway, $35 produce & a bottle of vino