Kaikoura

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We had a whale of a time in Kaikoura - literally!

After what was turning out to be a stormy day we were both dead pleased to find out that the out-at-sea conditions were in the 'perfect' classifications for optimum whale watching.
We spent the rest of the day in the boat jetting from one spot to antoher as different sperm whales were coming to the surface for a big breath of air before diving back down to feed on giant squids and crill.

Kaikoura is one of only 2 places in the world where the ground plummets rapidly into an under water canyon - the one in Kaikoura goes from getting deep from the shore steadily to about 90 meters then the continental shelf drops off to a staggering 900 meters. Due to the warmth from the land, this spot is therefore ideal for male sperm whales to come an chill out after cruising around the pacific and southwards towards the South Pole. It's a tad to chilly for the females and babies to be hanging out in - so we decided it was like the whale equivalent of a working mans club.

We didn't see any extra special behaviour from the whales - like breaching and flipping about, but simply seeing how huge these guys are by getting a glimpse of just the tip of their noses (about 5 meters of nose pops up out of the water) gave you a great idea of how big the rest of their bodies was. I was desperate to jump into the icy water and have a peek under the surface to check out the enormity of them - but Thom held me back onto the boat and encouraged me to join in and take photos instead.

When the whale activity had subsided a little, the boat suddenly became surrounded by some very flash Dusky Dolphins - there were loads of them flipping and splashing about in all directions. I once had an R.E teacher who solemnly believed that Dolphins ruled the Earth..... I'm sure she would analyze this as them trying to make fools out of the paying spectators who we running from one side of the boat to the other to get a good view of all the different leaps these Dolphins were showing us.

All in all it was a fabulous day, finished off with a nice bottle o savvie and some excellent Kiwi Fush n Chups by the sea. We were questioned by an official/sheriff who let us off for parking up by the side of the road because he was "A hippie sort too" and liked our style of doing things. We then watched a Storm batter the coastline! Sweet!

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Photos

$$ Shot
As exclaimed by the PA on board.

Waiting to Watch
We were also hoping that big cloud was going to blow away before we got out to sea.

Listening for Calls
This is how they checked to see which direction the whales were in, and also if they were about to come up for air soon. This wasn't done "pro-actively" which is where some places fire off a load of sonar out into the water to confuse the whales into surfacing for tourists. These guys just listened and waited passivley for them. Much kinder ey?

Coming up for a Breather
You can see if -you look carefully- how big this whale was. The little bit peeking out of the water is the tip of his nose, and if you relate that on a mental scale to where a whales blow-hole is you can work out the size.

Dolphin that wouldn't go away
One of many Dusky's that acted up for us in the 'lead' like waters.

Graceful Capture
This large Sea bird glides into grab lunch from a surface Deli.

Kaikoura
The headland that sticks out into the amazing under water canyon.

Puff of Water
The Sperm Whale as it prepares to dive down for 45 mins.

Sperm Whale Tale
Looking into land.

Natural Beauty
Kaikoura.

Valentine's Day Picture
What a great thing to do on V-Day.

Just another rainy day
This pretty much summed up our remaining days on the South Island. Well at least the landscapes stayed epic too.

Duck Tales
......I wonder how they would taste in a pancake roll?