Whales - Kaikoura

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Got up far too early to take sea sickness tablets, on boat by 7:15 for Whale watching, saw 2 Sperm Whales, couple of fur seals and lots of birds, including my beloved albatross =)

Was quite sea sick as you have to stay inside the catamaran (don't know how you spell it sorry), so got back to land and had nap and lots of water. Went for walk along the beach and spoke to Mr Grem on the phone for a loooooong time and we put the world to rights from opposite sides of the globe, so all should be right in this universe now! =p Also had kids xmas fayre and carol concert in the middle of town, very odd to hear carols and see kids in Santa hats, shorts and T-shirts!

Went kayaking around the seal colony, there were a couple of seals in the water, but they wouldn't come closer than a metre or so. It's really hard to paddle, shout at the useless Canadian in the back of the kayak who can't steer and keeps screaming and take photos with my camera in a giant condom (aquapac) at the same time, so sorry pics aren't great! lol (same woman managed to scare away every known sea creature with her splashing, voice and presence...... at one point I thought about capsizing the kayak just to get some peace!)

Any hoo, was a lovely 4 hours paddle in lovely coastal area, beautiful blue sky, got back to land, had delicious local Blue Cod and salad, the obligatory Chai Latte and then back to room to watch sun set from my bed whilst reading and writing in my journal (which by the way is now so fat and heavy it has it's own bag and is going to need it's own seat on the plane!!) I am a sucker for the business cards wherever I stay, eat, drink or do an activity......I think I have a card collectors problem, wonder if there are CCA meetings in the UK?

Chilling in Kaikoura this morning and making use of the fab internet cafe, off to Blenheim and to do a vineyard tasting and distillery tour....lol should be fun! Will keep in touch, probably from the North Island next I have a chance.

Not long now! Liz xx

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Photos

Tail Shot
It's really hard with sea sickness, a bobbing boat on the swells and trying to photo a whales tail with mountains in the background, hats off to the professionals!

Sperm Whale
He was very obliging and hung around on surface for about 10 minutes then dived down for upto 45 mins!

There he blows!
Amazing sound and very cool to be so close

Seal & Gary The Peroxide Guide
Seals on the rocks and always get a shot of the guide to remind me of the fun activity!

Kayaking Me!
Kayaking is my favourite thing, actually enjoy it from getting ready to feeling the burn! Mostly love the quiet of the sport, just you and nature.....very natural and gets you close to the wildlife

Seal in water
This seal was about a metre from the boat when Gary told us about these 2 seals that were playing with a tourists boat and flipped it over! lol nothing like a helpful guide!