Kaikoura

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We headed out to the east coast this weekend hoping to experience some of the abundant marine life around Kaikoura (an hour or so north of Christchurch). The kids are off on yet another 2 week school break, so we were able to leave Reefton around noon on Friday. We went out for dinner at the White Morph restaurant. This charming eatery is located right on the shore (and conveniently next door to our motel). The fresh fish was excellent (served on a tomato risotto) and the coffee and lime tart superb. The owner and wait staff were excellent. Naturally, one of the wait staff was born in Reefton. A highly recommended restaurant.

Kaikoura is known for its marine life the result of a nearby ocean trench system known as the Kaikoura Canyon. Two strong sea currents converge in this enormous trench and draw vast quantities of plant and animal nutrients to the surface in a great upwelling which attracts wildlife of all kinds to the area, ranging in size from plankton to the whales Kaikoura is famous for.

On Saturday, we had the best breakfast we have had in New Zealand at Encounter Kaikoura. Astrid and I had Eggs Benedict and a perfect flat white made with beans roasted by the Underground Coffee Company. Afterward, we took a stroll along the beach in search for Paua shells. Paua is a species of abalone unique to New Zealand. The colour of its shell is very distinctive - almost iridescent similar to Mother of Pearl. There are rigorously enforced quotas on its collection. Astrid has been looking for the valuable shells every since we hit the South Island. The tidal pools off Kaikoura had several, much to Astrid's great delight. While the shell hunting went on, I walked out on the rocks to get a closer look at a couple of fur seals. On the way, I came across three Pied Shags (a cormorant) on the rocks. These large sea birds are striking with a green eye surrounded by a blue ring and a patch of yellow in front of the eyes.

In the afternoon, we headed out whale watching, one of Astrid's other passions. We went out with Whale Watch Kaikoura, an outfit owned by the Ngai Tahu. The Ngai Tahu are the principle Maori iwi (tribe) of the southern region of New Zealand. The tremendously successful whale watching operation was started up in the late 80s to provide much needed employment for the local Maori population. We sensed that there was some bitterness in the local community surrounding this operation. I gather that the Maori attempted to prevent other operators from running tours, based on what they believed to be their right to control access to the sea as indigenous people. The court case met with mixed success but the company did ultimately obtain a monopoly for six years.

It was likely not the best time of the year for viewing, but we did see two sperm whales (Big Nick and Manu). The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales measuring up to 18 metres (60 ft) long. On the surface, only about a 1/3 of their body length is visible, but it was clear that they are massive creatures.

On Sunday morning we headed out by sea kayak with our Irish guide Andy to visit one of the local seal colonies at Sharkstooth Point on the Kaikoura peninsula. A couple of the seals were out lollying in the waves quite close to the kayaks. It was a great experience, although the winds picked up making the paddling a bit tough on the return leg. In the afternoon, we split up. Astrid and the girls returned to the hunt for paua. Josh and I walked the shoreline of the peninsula. We headed out just after low tide and so took the shoreline track which is otherwise inaccessible. The track heads out across a rock platform with many shells and brightly coloured sea anemones found in the crevasses and then leads through a pack of fur seals. We weeded our way slowly and carefully through the seals being careful not to get between the seals and the sea - cutting off their escape route. Fur seals have very sharp teeth and have bitten many New Zealanders. However, the highlight of our walk was coming across a yellow-eyed penguin hiding out in a limestone cave.

Kaikoura is a must-see destination for wildlife enthusiasts.

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Photos

Sperm Whale
A sperm whale surfaces above the Kaikoura deep sea canyon

Comments

[Janis Leonard]

Wow
Hi Paul and family, Sounds like quite an adventure! Bring back lots of pictures~ Jansi

[CanadianKiwis]

Pictures
Janice: There will be plenty of pictures ... you many want to avoid dinner invitations for the first few months after our return or risk the "slide show of our vacation".