New Zealand

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Day 5

After breakfast we left for a drive to Kaikoura. My sister & family were going for a drive towards Mt. Cook. My Mum & Dad were just going to look around Christchurch. The trip from Christchurch to Kaikoura is 185 kms. Just after 10:30 am we encountered a one-lane bridge on State Highway 1.



We encountered some light rain on our journey (not much traffic). As we neared Kaikoura & came down from the Mountains the road was very winding, so you could not drive too fast. As soon as we reached the coast, it reminded me of the Wollongong coast in Australia, where the road was close to the sea going around several headlands.



There were a series of tunnels for cars & for trains (the railway line at this point was right next to the road).



We arrived at Kaikoura at 11:45 & drove to the town's lookout. Kaikoura is known for it's Seal Colonies, Whale watching, Dolphins (5 types including Hector), Penguins. There is also plenty of birds including shearwaters, fulmars, petrels & albatross.





From the lookout you basically had 360 degrees view. You could see the town below & even down to one of the jetties.



Next we drove down from the lookout & headed along the Esplanade, past Jimmy Archer's Beach to one of the Seal Colonies near the penninsula.



We stopped the car & went for a walk on the rock platform to try & see some Seals.



The rocks were a little bit slippery & it started to drizzle. The seals were not that close & you really needed binoculars or a camera with good zoom to see them properly.



While wandering around the rocks we saw a Pied Shag & noticed much kelp floating in & around the rocks. The dizzle turned more into rain, so we headed for the car.



Along the road back from the Seal Colony, a farmer was herding some sheep, so we had to get ahead of them. We then stopped at the local Information centre, then went into town to have some Fish & Chips (which was delicious !).



After lunch we drove for about 20 minutes north of town. A lady at information centre said you would be able to see more seals.



We stopped the car at the first place you could park a car. She was right, there were a number of Seals on some rocks offshore.



We drove back to Kaikoura, stopping at a Roadside Cafe which was the starting point for a tour of the Maori Leap Cave. The limestone sea cave was only discovered in 1958. Our Tour started at 3:30 pm. Tour only lasts about 35 minutes.



There were some nice formations inside & as usual in caves you had to use your imagination about the shapes the guide was talking about.



For the 1st time visting a cave, we were given safety helmets. Like most caves (except the one in the Philippines we visited recently) it was quite cold.



Our tour group was quite small - the others were all New Zealanders. After the tour, we had ice-creams in the cafe.



We started heading back towards Christchurch, along the road going around South Bay, seeing a number of large rocks out in the sea.





We made one more stop as we could see a number of cars parked near the sea. We saw some more seals not too far out on the rocks. Further down the coast we could see a large Cave. Then we headed back to our Hotel & arrived back around 6 pm.

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