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Published: March 13th 2009
Albatross boat trip
Wandering albatross and giant petrelKaikoura
There is so much to do in Kaikoura, it is hard to choose. So many trips and so much money! Dolphins, whales, birds, seals - we chose the albatross trip because we knew we would be able to do a whale watching trip in Oz (possibly cheaper), and we had already seen lots of dolphins and seals. Neither of us had ever sen an albatross so it was going to be a first for both of us.
The weather was really windy on the morning of our trip and the sea was very rough. Itwas what they merrily called a 'sea-sickness' warning. Rob cheerfully declared that the birds prefer rough weather so we would see more. We are both usually okay with motion sickness, but decided to take some anti-sickness pills, just in case!
Our skipper was called Gary and he was very knowledgeable. We set off on a roller-coaster of waves and before long had already sighted an albatross in the distance. It looked like a glider plane, it was so big. Gary stopped the boat and threw some 'chump' (food for the birds) in the sea and almost immediately we were inundated with albatrosses (3
different types), mollymawks, giant petrels and shearwaters, all flying in a nd landing close to the boat. So close you could almost reach out and touch them. We were over-awed by the whole thing and sat watching in amazement as the birds squabbled over the ' food. They all looked so huge up close, and so beautiful. After a while Gary set off again and then repeated the process. Again we had masses of birds flying down. It was the most fantastic experience.
When we set off again we suddenly found that we had a pod of dolphins playing around the boat. Gary stopped the engine and we watched while they swam round and round right up close to the boat. Beautiful.
Next we set off for the seal colony where we watched the seals whilst drinking hot chocolate and eating biscuits.
The whole day was the most amazing experience for us both. It took a long time for us to calm down - we were so over-excited.
While in Kaikoura we also went to the little cinema to watch James Bond (we had missed it back home). The cinema was a lovely litle old-fashioned one.
Albatross boat trip
Wandering Albatross Our campsite had a heated swimming pool so one day we spent lying around soaking up the sun on the sun-loungers, and swimming in the pool.
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