McCrain's
in Middle Earth
A travel dialogue of our adventures
in New Zealand
In February 2004, Jim and Kathy McCrain began a five month oddessy in New Zealand. Kathy was transferred to Auckland for a temporary work assignment, and Jim followed her for moral support. (Isn't he just the greatest husband?) What follows is Jim's account of this adventure.
An Amazing Encounter
July 27, 2004
Kaikoura.
The whale-watching capital of the World. If
you take a whale-watching tour in this town, you have a 98% chance of
seeing a whale! There are the giant 
Sperm
whales in residence all year round, and humpbacks and blue whales, not
to mention Orca, frequent this area as well. We saw four whales, a pod
of over 100 Dusky dolphins, and a colony of New Zealand fur seals, all
in the span of two-and a half hours!
All of these
creatures were magnificent, but the whales really stole the show.
I knew that many people consider this to be an almost religious experience,
to be so close to such a large wild animal. But I wasn’t really
prepared for it. The 
sound
these giants make as they breath is both beautiful and haunting. Were
I to hear something like this in the dark at night, it would surely
scare me into a heart-attack! After resting for 
several
minutes on the surface, these behemoths silently slip back down into
the depths, all the way down to over 3,000 feet! When they surface again,
more people will be waiting to silently watch them, and to enjoy and
appreciate their beauty and majesty.
By the way, Kathy
took that fantastic whale picture!
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