A Whale of a Time!

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We arrived in Picton, only to drive straight through and head south down the east coast to Kaikoura. Only a few minutes outside Picton we were surrounded by vast expanses of vines with tall mountains in the distance. The rolling hills and mountains in the foreground were dry and yellow rather than the lush green slopes we had been used on North Island.

The coastal road towards Kaikoura was beautiful, with high snow capped mountains dropping dramatically to an azure sea. In the afternoon we walked the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway; along rocky beaches past seal colonies and then back along the cliff tops. We were able to get really close to the seals basking on the rocks and the views from the cliff tops were phenomenal; to the right was rocky coastline and turqouise water, to the left towering snow capped mountains - we didn't know where to look!

We ate tea at a seafood shack in a lay-by. It was a great little place - fresh seafood cooked right in front of you; scallops, mussels and the local speciality - crayfish. By the time we were there around 5:30, they'd run out of lots on the menu, which seemed to depend on how much was caught that morning.

We got up before dawn the next day to watch the sunrise over the sea and mountains of Kaikoura. When the sun came up the low cloud meant it wasn't much of a spectacle and the mountains were hidden, so we walked along the shore to see if we could see some more seals. Walking towards Spaniards Bay where we had seen them yesterday, we nearly stood on one sleeping high up the beach on a patch of seaweed. When we reached the bay there were so many basking on the rocks and as the sun came up they started to stir - yawning and then diving into the sea for their morning feed.

We then headed off to the Whale Watch Centre where we were told as we arrived that the conditions were perfect so we were quietly optomistic that we would see a whale. Kaikoura is one of the only places in the world where whales come within a few miles of the shore, due to a huge canyon over a kilometre deep situated just off the peninsula. We boarded a catamaran boat and the captain would every so often stop and stick a sonar receiver into the water to try to locate the whale. It was a beautiful day, just being on the water was lovely, but then a whale appeared right in front of us! You could only see a slither of its upper back most of the time and frequent squirts of water from its blowhole but it is still somehow an awesome sight, seeing the majestic creature - especially as it dives back down into the depths of the ocean, showing us its tail - seemingly waving a goodbye! Sperm Whales are the largest toothed predator in the world, have the largest head of any animal and can hold their breath for longer than any other species on earth! We saw two Sperm Whales on the boat trip and took a look at another seal colony.

We left Kaikoura but on our way sampled its other claim to fame - Crayfish. In the restaurants it is incredibley pricey, so we stopped at Nin's Bin - a caravan in a lay-by by a beach, where a lovely lady prepared us a fresh Crayfish with garlic butter. It was gorgeous - huge and very meaty, and we sat in a picturesque location overlooking the sea. It was a cross between gourmet dining and a takeaway van!

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Comments

[J,M,P]

Wow!
What fantastic pics, can't believe how close you were to seals, looks amazing. Poppy was trying to roll over today, she's not quite made it, but watch this space!

[gilberts]

sleepy seals
No different from home then - plenty of sleepy seals here, even snoring ones... These blogs get better and better - what fantastic experiences!