My Arrival at Kaikoura

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I arrived in Christchurch in the early hours of Monday morning. My uncle Max had very kindly agreed to meet me at the airport and give me a lift up to Kaikoura, where I will be staying for a few months. Kaikoura is a small coastal town with a population of about 3200, but hugely popular with tourists for spotting whales, dolphins and seals. In fact, I saw a group of Hector's Dolphins in the bay on my first day here - these are quite rare, found only in New Zealand, and the smallest marine dolphin.
Max moved out here a couple of years ago with my aunt K.D. they have been building their own house, keeping chickens, cows, goats and rabbits, and being quite self-sufficient here. I have been helping to finish the house and will be doing lots of work on the land during my stay. I have my own room here - a small storage space above the garage, about 8ft square with a very low ceiling and no windows. After living in shared dorms it's a luxury to have my own space again.
The scenery around Kaikoura is stunning (as you can see from the photos). The terrain to the North rises sharply at the foot of mt Fyffe, 1602m high, which marks the start of the Kaikoura mountain range. There are lots of walking routes through the mountains, which I hope to explore as soon as I can. The Kaikoura peninsula is good for walking and hosts large colonies of fur seals and seabirds.
The weather here is extremely variable, and changes with little warning. The residents here keep a good eye on the weather forecast. This week we have had 4 days of scorching sunshine, and 3 days of (relatively) cold and wet weather. During those wet days this place feels very much like Wales.
A lot of the vegetation here is European in origin - New Zealand seems to have even bigger ecological problems then Australia. The roadsides are crawling with hedgehogs (I don't know why someone would want to introduce hedgehogs over here) and we frequently see blackbirds and sparrows in the garden. I find this only makes the native wildlife even more exciting.

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Photos

Kaikoura Peninsula
A view from the top of a tree at the foot of Mt. Fyffe.

'The Bat Cave'
This is where I will be living for the next few months.

Fur Seal
A fur seal on the peninsula

Mt Fyffe
A view of the mountains from Kaikoura peninsula

Seal colony
The Seal colony on Kaikoura peninsula

Kowhai River
A lot of the rivers here have braided courses, which change frequently, leaving shelves of stones like these. The mountains in the background are the beginning of the Kaikoura range.