Blogs from Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

19 mai: Debout a 6h du matin pour prendre le ferry qui rejoint l'ile du sud a 8h. J'ai voulu rester au maximum dehors pour profiter des paysages, mais apres 45 minutes il faisait tres froit donc je suis rentree un peu pour prendre un cafe et me reposer etant donner que la croisiere dure presque 4 heures. Je n'ai pas pu dormir completement mais j'ai sommenele. Je me suis reveillee a temps pour l'entree de l'ile du Sud et les paysages etaient a couper le souffle. L'eau etait d'un tel bleu turquoise, les montagnes a cote et le soleil qui donnait, c'etait tout simplement magnifique. Je suis restee dehors jusqu'a la fin malgre le vent car le spectacle en valait le coup. Apres cette arrivee sompteuse j'ai conduit jusqu'a Kaikoura sur la cote Est. Une ... read more

R: We drove away from Jane's place and headed for Kaikoura on the east coast, on our way to Christchurch to meet Dave and Shannon who we will be travelling with for a couple of weeks. First we stopped at Pelorus Bridge, which is a wooden swing bridge over the Pelorus river, and situated between Nelson and Havelock. We had already covered this section of road, but it was amazingly dramatic with steep mountain passes and beautiful forest. When we got to Blenheim, we stopped in at our previous favourite pub for some more delicious chicken wings.... Then it was down to Kaikoura via route 1, over a scenic mountain pass and along a stunningly dramatic coast line. As we wiggled our way along, there were lookout points, some with seal colonies, but given it was ... read more

Zjutraj sva se iz Pictona podala po vzhodni obali južnega otoka proti Kaikouri. Že prihod čez hribovito pokrajino, ki ločuje sever od vzhoda, je pokazal, da je bila vremenska napoved pravilna - padavinam se do vzhoda ni uspelo prebiti. Kot že neštetokrat na tem potovanju sva bila tudi danes navdušena nad čudovito pokrajino - peščenimi plažami, ki se strmo dvigujejo v hribe in gore. Nekaj kilometrov pred Kaikouro sva ob cesti na skalah opazila tjulnje, ki se niso pustili motiti pri svojem dopoldanskem počitku. V Kaikouri sva najprej poiskala center Whale Watch Kaikoura. Center je v lasti lokalnega maorskega plemena, ki je oglede kitov začelo izvajati v prejšnjem stoletju v času krize, ki je Maore zelo prizadela. Kite imajo Maori skoraj v krvi, verjamejo namreč, da je njihov prednik Paikea prišel na Novo Zelandijo na kitu ... read more

After the long drive and with Dayna declaring that her eyeballs hurt because there was too much to look at, we decided that Dean could do the reconnaissance mission into town solo. The girls pounced on the wifi vouchers faster than it takes a dog to sniff out a kiwi and I took advantage of the guest laundry. Dean returned with tales of seals and their pups in close proximity, news of a fish and chip shop close by and holding a box of Kapiti icecreams. Good times! Our dinner from a nondescript fish shop was definitely a highlight - fresh fish (rig and groper) and crispy non-greasy chips while watching the sun set behind the Kaikoura mountains. On October 15, NZ has scheduled a national earthquake drill; 'Shakeout Day'. We decided to do a drill ... read more

Route 1 continues on in the South Island. I walked there from the ferry terminal and found a couple of rides south in the rain along the coast. The water there is such a brilliant blue and the coastline is completely untouched- there isn't a house or any other kind of property the entire way. I wasn't able to get a good photo. But the second guy who picked me up offered to stop at a creek that has a pond filled with seal cubs. Apparently mothers hide their cubs there from the sharks. Along the rocky coastline there were hundreds more. I stayed at the Fish Bowl hostel, which was nearly empty. It's right near all the shops and restaurants and bars but the town was more or less in hibernation during July. I ran ... read more