Blogs from Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Howdy folks, today got up early, very excited, drove 2 hours to see the Whales, we booked a boat to go out and see them. Sooooooooooooo disappointed, we got there and it was cancelled due to the rough sea. Must admit, travelling down, the sea was looking a wee bit on the rocky side, thinking heck, haven't brought any sea sickness tablets, but it will be ok as the whales will take my mind off it. So after being told this disappointing news, we were pretty desperate, 'Right', says Stu 'We're get a plane', flippin heck, he's desperate !! Off we go to the helicopter hanger, in we go, me legs were starting to go !!! I go into this verbal outburst, 'were really scared of flying, but we need to see the whales !! The ... read more

Vandaag hadden nog Ruben, noch ikzelf eigenlijk zin om ook maar iets te doen. Het kwam ons dus eigenlijk goed uit dat de whale watch toer van die dag niet mogelijk was door te wilde zee... We hebben dus wat zitten ronddwalen in Kaikoura. De stad van de Whale Watch, Seal Colony’s en ... Crayfish (kreeft dus). Langs de weg kun je verschillende oude caravannetjes vinden die gekookte en/of gegrilde kreeft verkopen. De prijs ... staat op de staart geschreven. Heel leuk. Enig nadeel: bij gebrek aan binnenzitjes, opletten voor de meeuwen!! Voor de rest hebben we een kleine wandeling tussen (!) de zeehonden gedaan. Heel leuk, maar bijzonder spannend, want die mannelijke zeehonden bewegen bedriegelijk snel. Een beetje verderop hebben we dan een wandelingetje gedaan naar een waterval waar de zeehondpups overdag veilig spelen, weg ... read more

The South Island of New Zealand is famed most of all for it's wonderful and picturesque scenery. Whether it be the rolling hills in the Otago region, the sheer majesty of Mt. Cook, the adrenaline pumping surrounds of Queenstown or the sun-kissed archipelago of the Marlborough Sounds. But all of these places dwell in the shadow of the beauty of this next place. To one side you have Mountains and to the other you have one of the best scenic driving routes IN THE WORLD (imagine that being delivered with the same enthusiasm of Jeremy Clarkson). I could be talking about no other place than the beautiful coastal town of Kaikoura. A place that was discovered by the Maori's has always been a local favourite because of the abundance of some of the most delectable seafood ... read more

Our time on the South Island is already half way through, even more. At the moment we're sitting in the kitchen facility of an exceptionally fancy (for us, that is) campsite, usually we stay at the rather basic DOC campsites, which cost next to nothing, but today we had heard that a cyclon would hit northern parts of the island, and that would mean heavy rains in our area too. Thus, we figured we would get a motel room for the night, but a last minute weather forecast check at the New World supermarket parking lot (they have a good and free wifi) showed that it was a false alarm, so we ended up camping in any case, only a DOC site wasn't available in this town. Camping has become so much nicer since we got ... read more

Geo: -42.4023, 173.681Our journey to Kaikoura for the whale-watch 'experience' was somewhat extended by the necessity to return to the hotel at Te Mahia to collect a nighdress that someone had forgotten to pack - so that was an extra hour of tight twisty roads.When we arrived we discovered Kaikoura is a town is entirely devoted to getting tourists to see whales - by boat, by plane, by helicopter. There were also seals and albatrosses to be 'experienced'. So masses of motels and cafes catering to these passing tourists. Our motel had a large contingent of chinese tourists who spent much of their time yelling across the courtyard to each other.Next morning we assembled at the Whale Watch centre for our informative video and safety briefing and then were bussed 10 minutes to the boats - ... read more