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Dolphin in Kaikoura
Yes, Nick actually took this photo! In March, we headed off on a 2-week holiday of NZ’s South Island. We used a 'hop on hop off' bus service called Stray Backpacker Bus NZ to get around, and our big highlights were swimming with dolphins, catching our own fish for dinner and climbing a glacier.
Stop 1: Kaikoura
Dolphins, fish and self-sufficiency (P) We whistled through Christchurch before heading northwards by bus with Stray Travel, pit-stopping at Cheviot on our way to the beautiful
Kaikoura peninsula. The name Kaikoura is derived from the Maori words
kai (meal) and
koura (crayfish) - which is a spiny crustacean looking just like a lobster, found here in abundance.
So whales, dolphins, seals and fishing are the main buzzwords of this town: located on the rugged east coast of the South Island, Kaikoura is renowned for its rocky coastline and dramatic alpine scenery. Two ocean currents converge at this peninsula (one warm subtropical and the other cold sub-Antarctic), making the sea rich in minerals and plankton. Giant sperm whales, albatrosses and the very rare
Hector’s Dolphins are attracted to the abundant food in the deep ocean canyons, which extend right to the shore.
We stayed at Adelphi Lodge, an old hotel
from 1912 with lots of character and creaky floorboards, the walls decorated with black and white photos depicting life in Kaikoura’s bygone days as a major whaling station (whaling ceased in 1922); these days whale
watching is one of the major local attractions.
Miserably wet weather greeted us on arrival, but we enjoyed some Saturday night atmosphere and live music in a local Irish bar. By the next morning the clouds had parted and the sun shone beautifully to reveal the place in all its glory. We arose early especially for a dolphin trip but it was cancelled due to high winds out at sea! It did however give us the opportunity to go for a morning stroll on the beach - the scenery was all the more stunning when compared to the grey clouds and relentless rain of the day before. Now we saw the mountains in the distance and the bright blue sea. We went to a very old wooden church - St. Paul’s-on-the-Hill - which had the best views that we have seen from any church, right over into the bay.
We went for a walk around the peninsula and passed a couple of
seal colonies, getting within a few metres of one large seal that was sunbathing on the rocks. The rocks were very flat and smooth to walk on and as the sea went out, it left little pools between them in which were lots of limpets; and there was also plenty of orange seaweed the shape and thickness of rope.
We encountered more seals swimming as we continued our walk, and then climbed up the cliffs at
Whalers’ Bay. Looking down, it was possible to see indentations in the ground from berthed ships in whaling times 100 years ago. In those old days, men on the cliff tops would shout "There she blows!" to let the boatmen know of a whale in the area. The views were impressive over the blue seas; at one exhibition point, a black and white photo showed guys standing on top of a whale they had just brought into shore, and the cliffs in the background looked exactly the same as today.
The next morning had us up even earlier (at 5am!) but it was very worthwhile for two things:
1) to witness a beautiful sunrise as the sky turned from black to orange and
then blue, and the mountains reflected a pinky glow
2) to
swim with the dolphins, second time lucky. I must admit I was cynical about posters illustrating 10 or so of them leaping and swimming right close to the boat but in fact that’s really how it was (see photos for the evidence)!
On our way out to sea, our guide said we were especially fortunate in spotting a few
Hector’s dolphins in the shallower waters, the rarest and smallest variety noticeable by their 'Mickey Mouse ear’ style of fin. We powered on a bit further and saw a pod of about 50
dusky dolphins (only found in the Southern Hemisphere), and it wasn't long till we were in the water with them. Even though we had wetsuits on, at first it was really, really cold!! We had been told by the boat guide that we should make it interesting for the dolphins to come and meet us, as they are completely wild and they can choose whether or not to hang around with us. We were assured that effective techniques for attracting and entertaining dolphins are singing underwater (through the snorkels) and then spinning round in a circle
if they came near….
We were so fortunate with our trip: we did 4 swims in different areas and each time the dolphins came and swam all around (and underneath) us, and then there was a break but more would come - we couldn't believe how close they came to the boat. We sang, we twirled and we made eye contact. On the final swim, Nick took off his wetsuit hat to be able to hear the high-pitched dolphin noise that they make to chatter and communicate. On the boat back to shore we saw flocks of
shearwater birds skimming the surface.
That same afternoon, we hooked up (excuse the pun) with Gerry, a local fisherman recommended to us by the
Stray bus driver. Before we went onto the boat, he took us round to his house and showed us his garden, including a tent for rent where Ewan MacGregor has booked into stay! We went in the boat with Gerry’s colleague Nick, another local fisherman, a real Kiwi character who had lost a leg while spear-fishing in Australia. On our
fishing trip we were sped out to where the water was about 70 metres deep; Nick showed
us how to hold the rod, how to drop the line, and how to know when we had a bite - at which point we had to yank the rod really hard a couple of times to push the hook through the fish's mouth, then simply wind up - this was not so easy as it sounded, as we were winding up 70m of fishing line! The waters are so rich in fish that it was almost just a case of dangling the rod over the edge, waiting a couple of minutes, then reeling in a perch (see video). Because there were 2 hooks at the end of the line, Nick then told us to wait for the first bite, then wait for a second before reeling up, and sure enough we brought up 2 fish at the same time! We caught about 10 fish in 40 minutes, mostly
red perch (about 20cm) and some
blue cod (about 30cm).
A couple of large albatrosses also bobbed about near the boat, hoping to be fed some of our catch. It was so peaceful and the weather was so great that we really enjoyed being out there. On our way back
to shore, we picked up some
crayfish from pots attached to the buoys by rope and resting on the seabed at about 8m deep. By law, you have to throw them back if under a certain size but, according to our fisherman guide Nick, anyone in New Zealand can sail out and pick up crayfish like this: daily limit is 6 fish per person - quite generous we thought, if you see the size of them! In another pot, there was a squid which can be disastrous for the crayfishermen because they spurt out a liquid to kill crayfish, making their flesh turn to jelly.
Before we headed back, Nick tried his luck and jumped in for a swim with an elusive seal, just seeing it swim under him in a trail of bubbles. That evening, we cooked up a storm consisting of our day’s catch, accompanied by some wine - not your average backpacker dinner!!
More to follow in the next dispatch 😊
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Margaret Telfer
non-member comment
Book
Hi Nick and Paula, You certainly are visiting some interesting places. I think you should write a book about your travels, I am sure they would be a best seller. You are both really having a fantastic time by the look of your experiences and the photos. We are going to your mum's next Saturday so I am really looking forward to looking at the photo's she had taken. The thing is these days, most photos are downloaded straight onto the computer and they seem to stay there - at least ours do. Take care, Margaret and Dave.