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Published: October 5th 2005
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Kaikoura: Land of Crayfish Food
Kaikoura is a popular beachside town on the East Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It has strong roots in the Maori culture and is best known for its whale watching tours. Sitting on the South Pacific, the blue waters are surrounded by White capped Mountains that reach right up to the sea. it is a remarkable place.
We checked into Cray Cottage, a cozy little hostel (the tiniest we stayed at!) owned by a transplanted middle aged british couple, Jacki and Don. Apparently, the two had a little bit of a mid life crisis and sold everything and bought the hostel on the beach just 'because'. Wow. what a story. if you saw what kind of views they wake up to every morning, you might decide to do it too.
We stayed two nights in the Cray Cottage hoping to catch a whale watching tour. unfortunately due to the weather it was canceled. But, we made up for it ( and saved 125 nz$ ) by exploring the town. We walked along the beach, and i found a load of Paua shells. Pauas are very popular in NZ, they are only
Lookout Point over Kaikoura
*Sunny is in the bottom right corner! found here and are a unique version of the abalone shell. The colors range from bright turquoise to deep purples and bright pinks. I found quite a few, and i am looking foward to making jewlery out of them. Ill try and take some photos of them later when they are cleaned up.
Seal ya later!
After shell hunting- we decided to take a hike around the kaikoura penninsula. We were told there were a few wild seal colonies to be seen. Boy, did we not know what we were getting ourselves into. The good news: we came out alive. the bad news: i dont care if I ever see another wild fur seal ever again! here's the story:
The three of us naive american girls left our safe haven of Cray Cottage and made our way to the Pennisula Track. Armed with nothing but our cameras and my one water bottle we embarked on a journey that brought us a little to close for comfort to some of NZ's wildlife: The Fur Seal.
the hike started out nice, taking us through farmland, and around some rocky ocean bays, until we encountered our first seal. I
heard from countless sources (some of whom have actually been chased down by seals) that you must remain a safe distance away from the seal, and DO NOT i repeat Do NOT get between the seal and the ocean, his food, cave, babies, or his escape route. basically you're SOL if a seal comes at you. SO that being said:
We made our way around the slippery beach against steep cliff faces trying to keep our eyes open for seals, and then I heard a rather spine tingling growl coming from the bush. i nearly jumped a foot and I screamed really loudly, that fat lazy stinky as al get out seal was growling at me?? like he really owns the ocean. i think not buddy. back off. and then we carried on our way. Before I could even say "that wasnt so bad, was it?" Lauren pointed out that we were about to walk into a huge pod of seals lounging on the beach. Now just an FYI these said seals are not your furry cuddly seals from Sea World, or anything remotely like the seal on the movie 'Andre'. NO, not at all. These seals that Im
talking about are stinky, HUGE, growling agressive animals with relly big teeth!! and they are not afraid to show it.
To save you from all the details, I'll just say this: our little relaxing walk with the wildlife, turned into an adrenaline pumping 4 hour brush with wildlife. each step we took we were in a seal's territory. with no where to turn around. we were stuck. with every turn we made, there was a hige seal ready to eat our faces off. ARGH! Thanks to Rachel's "scaring away the seals" tactics ( i.e waving her hands and yelling Go away Go away Get into the Sea!) we managed to get by quite a few unscathed. At times the seals were chasing after us and I feared for my life. (ok maybe that last point might have been a tad exxaggerated...i didnt fear for my life, but i did fear for my leg being bitten off).
I dont know how to fully explain this event: remind me to perform this story in full animation upon my arrival to the U.S.
We made it out alive and unharmed. haha. but I dont care about seeing a seal again EVER.
Art on the beach
I liked this sculture of beach wood, on the beach in kaikoura. Aside from the stinky seals. the walk was absolutely beautiful (big surprise again). I even managed to take a few pictures when I wasnt running for my life with a fat sea monster on my tail.
All in all, the walk was exciting, and an adrenaline rush we didnt have to shell out money for (thats a good thing!). We celebrated by going out for our last night in the South Island. Dinner and Drinks and Dessert at the Pier hotel on the Pennisula. We wined and dined and ate dessert while the crazy kiwis yelled and cheered for the Rugby Game playing in the bar.
We toasted to a fabulous South Island adventure full of snow skiing, glacier hiking, canyon swinging, hiking, beach playing, shell hunting, lounging in hot springs, hostel hopping, dinner making, road tripping, and seal encountering.
The next morning, we woke up and had the best brunch ever at Hislops Cafe, a lovely organic vegitarian eatery in town. After brunch we got back into Sunny for one last drive as we headed back to the North of the South Island to Picton, to catch the ferry back to Welly. Unfourtunately we missed
Main Road in kaikoura
Our Hostel was in the other direction about 3 blocks. the ferry by 5 minutes- and had to wait around for FOUR hours for the next one . We made it though, and it gave me time to write in my journal and read the book ive been unable to finish due to interuptions (i.e NZ) - Love in the time of cholera, a book my friend alonso gave to me. Once I was on the ferry looking over the marlbourough Sounds, I waved goodbye to the South Island and all my adventures. but I was happy to be welcomed back to Welly, my city in the Southern hemisphere.
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Well Friends, that is the last of my South Island term break Adventure Blogs. Now I am back in Welly and preparing for the next adventure to Ngaire's house in hastings on the North Island. Stay Tuned for some more! Hope all is well at home. Cheers, Shelly
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Mommy
non-member comment
Now you've done it!!
Oh my goodness, Shelly! Now you've gone and done it, dear! You've topped your list of risky adventures while in the South Island. Really, I never imagined you'd be threatened by Fur Seals! As I've followed your antics through the South Island, all of which have been somewhat risky, or downright dangerous, I didn't think you'd outdo yourself by encountering hostile wildlife on your last hike! It's beginning to look like you're enjoying the adrenaline rush or something! Glad I didn't know about the dangers of this one either...until it was already over! Now, I really am convinced you need to go work for the National Geographic! SWAK! Mommy