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Published: November 17th 2008
Our ferry crossing to the South Island lived up to all expectations and gave us a beautiful journey along the Cook Strait and our first view of some of the South Islands famous Sounds (sea inlets). It was nearly a completely smooth crossing so enabled us to keep down the delightful(!!??) cooked breakfasts we had treated ourselves to onboard.
We'd decided to head straight on down to Kaikoura so we wouldn't have to rush Dale's long awaited birthday present from Sophie.. a Whale Watching trip. The 2 hour journey down there was spectacular through winerys then to the coast where we had turquoise water on one side and snow capped mountains on the other. This scenery was definately what we'd been waiting for since arriving in NZ, and to make it even better the sun shone for us all day! On the way we also passed numerous seal colonies and spent ages just watching them lazing on the rocks.
Kaikoura comes top for the best place we have been to in NZ (to date) for the lovely town, crystal waters, wildlife adn amazing mountain backdrops. It probably did help that the sun was shining but even when that did
change and our love for the town wasn't dampened one bit. As soon as we got there we booked our trip for the following day and settled ourselves into a fantastic beahside camp and went to explore what was around.
Dale was so excited the next morning.. WHALE WATCHING DAY! We spent the morning driving down to Point Kean where the towns resident seal colony live. You can get really close to them because they are not a breeding colony and just spend the day relaxing in the car park and on the surrounding rocks in between meals.
When the time came to check in we made our way to the Whaleway Station only to be told that the trip had been cancelled due to a bad weather forecast with high winds but we had half expected this so just re-booked for the following morning. What we hadn't realised at this time was that although the sun was out at that time the winds that were forecast would be something else...
We whiled away the rest of the afternoon back at the seal colony and because the tide was out we managed to walk right round the
cliffs to the seagull colony too. Here Dale was clearly not popular though as one decided he looked too much of a threat and divebombed him! After this we were both a bit wary of them so walked back to the van and returned to the beach camp with the idea of spending the idea walking the beach as it was still a bit cold to sunbathe!
After about 30 minutes of being back at camp and with Sophie having hung their washing out to dry 100km/h winds came up out of nowhere whipping up a sand/grit/dust storm so we had to get the dripping wet washing back in the van to drip dry on our floor.. always nice in such a small space! The winds continued for a good few hours and were so strong that we thought that they might take the van away like a scene from the Wizard of Oz! We found out later that these winds are called Southerlys.. because they come from the South and all of a sudden. Anyway after the wind came the predictable rain so our afternoon and evening were spent with the familiar activity of playing cards until bedtime.
We are both really good at S*ithead now so watch out if we challenge you to a game!
Thankfully the following morning we woke up to more glorious sunshine and prepared once again for our trip.. which was on! We boarded the bus, then the boat and set sail for the sea. They have Sperm Whales in residence all year round as well as visits from Humpbacks, Orcas, Dolphins and sometimes even Blue Whales, this is because the sea shelf drops dramatically from 80m to 1800m just a few miles from the land and is perfect for their favourite food food of giant squid and various other types of fish. The boat trip itself was great because the water was so chopping and we went flying across the waves with the water splasing up all around the boat. We had to snigger to ourselves when a group who had been so loud when they got on the boat all turned a funny shade of green and had to reach for their sickbags just a few minutes into the journey!
It was only about 1/2 hour before we were told that they had spotted our first Sperm Whale just
Pupu Springs
The clearest springs in the worlda few miles from where we were. We rushed over there and had a good few minutes watching him (or her) bobbing around and spouting up water like they do before he flashed his tail and dived back down to the depths. It really was an amazing sight and one we will always remember as being so special.
This trip was so fantastic, much more than we had expected especially after our let down on the Bay of Islands. As well as the huge sperm whales we got to see Albatrosses, fur seals, dusky dolphins and countless other sea birds we forget the names of. What was even better was that about 1 hour later we got to spot our second whale but this time it was just us standing at the back of the boat as it came up to the surface and we got to shout to the rest of the boat that we had sighted one. The only thing that is a shame is that from the boat you can't really appreciate the immense size of these whales because you can only see 3 humps on the top of the water.. only 1/3 of it's total
body length but we just thought of Moby Dick and got the picture in our heads of what lay underneath.
This town is such a beautiful place and the trip amazing so if anyone is lucky enough to be coming this way make sure it's on your list of things to do! We did manage to tear ourselves away though and headed back up North to the Marlborough Sounds but of course making a stop at some wine yards on the way to sample the lovely (free!) wine that this region produces and very nice it was too.. it always tastes better when you are not paying for it though!
Our trip to the Sounds was interesting as it involved Sophie choosing a DOC (Department of Conservation) campsite which are really cheap and sometimes free. What we didn't realise it that the maps in the book are quite deceiving and what looks a relatively short distance on the map is in fact a really really long road, but not just a long straight road.. one that is double the length because you switch back on yourselves the whole time going up and down the mountains. Dale got more
Dale in the dunes
on Farewell Spit.. the Northernmost point on the South Island and annoyed as Sophie kept saying it must be just round the next corner and it wasn't. In the end we did get there and it was a lovely site just by the water with just us there so even better, plus the drive wasn't so bad as it was great scenery and yet again another sunny day!
A bit further up on the North of the South is the smallest of New Zealands National Parks called Abel Tasman, this is also the most popular especially during the summer months and as soon as we got there we could see exactly why. Once again the sun was out for us and when we made a stop at the first small town on the border of the park there was the most gorgeous golden sand beach all along the front, even better that our camp was just across the road so we got the view of this from our camper! We hadn't planned to do the full 3 - 4 day trek along the whole coastal park but really wanted to do a section so were pleased when we found out we could get a water taxi to a point
Abel Tasman
and yet another beach! What a rubbish place eh! further up the park called Bark Bay, then walk the 6 - 7 hour walk in just 5 hours so we could get another taxi back again at 3pm. As it turned out we did this with ease, especially when we took the short cut across the estuary trekking through swampy mud and sand on the way. The walk was not too strenuous (although it did take it's toll on Sophie's legs the day after anyway!) and went though beautiful forests, across a swing bridge and beaches all complete with crystal waters which would just amazing to relax on for a hot sunny day.
Another highlight of this part of our adventure has been going right up to the North of the South Island to Farewell Spit and the Golden Bay. Along this way we made a stop off to the clearest springs in the world.. Pupu Springs and boy were they clear. The water is probably more seethrough than we'd ever seen before, honestly if you could see it you would be amazed at just how beautiful a water spring can be. Sadly though you are not allowed to touch, taste or drip into the water for fear
of contamination so we just got to view it. Further on up the road is the Northernmost point of the South Island.. Farewell Spit, this is a long strip of sand that protects the water around the North of the island from and huge sea swells which makes it a perfect holiday beach spot, for us though we didn't have the weather for making the most of the beach so just took a walk along the Spit with the high winds creating a sandstorm around us!
This part of the island really is beautiful but we had yet more to see as we made our way further down South along the West coast where glaciers, mountains, fur seals, pengiuns and dolphins where crying out to be explored.....
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