Blogs from Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 41

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura December 21st 2006

Kiakoura is the main tourist destination in New Zealand to go whale watching. It all started way back in the eighties when a local diver got himself in the newpapers for swimming up close to the visiting sperm whales. Kiakoura is ideally placed on the edge of the oceanic tectonic plate and therefore not to far from the shore the seabed drops away hundreds of feet and provides the necessary diving grounds to attract sperm whales. Whale watch Kiakoura is the one and only company to provide the Whale watching tours and they put on a great trip. A slick modern catamaran transports you out to sea all the while information about the whales is continually presented to you either on a big LCD screen inside or over the speakers while you’re watching them from the ... read more

Christmas Message from New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura December 21st 2006

minkies

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from New Zealand. They don’t seem to get carried away with Christmas here like we do in other parts of the world, we’re experiencing a distinct lack of Christmas spirit!! We're both missing home, so we thought we'd put together a little movie clip message, well two, as it took two takes to get it right!! We’re going to spend Christmas in Christchurch in a nice hotel where we know we can get a proper Christmas lunch!! Anybody that wants to reach us on the hotel number, it's +64 3-348 8999. Lots of love Ben& Jo xxx Ps. I thought it rained a lot in England!! ... read more

Kiwi Experience First Day

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura December 8th 2006

Southern Alps at Daybreak

Gaz24

Hello Everyone, we got on the Kiwi Experience bus today and werent too sure what we would be doing, but not to long into our journey we knew that we would have fun. Our bus driver was called Bods and had been driving Kiwi Experience tours for quite a few years, He was really funny and kept pointing out stuff as we drove through from Christchurch to a place called Kaikoura. While driving through Bods told everyone about Kaikoura, where we could stay, what activities we could do and general stuff about the town. Jo and I decided that it would be cool to go Dolphin Swimming so booked ourselves on that activity. When we arrived in Kaikoura we checked into our double room which was more like a shed with a double bed in it ... read more

Free Trip

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura December 6th 2006

The plusser

Tues 5th Dec Started from city Oasis at 8:15am and the bus picked up a few more people then set off on a 2.5 hr drive to Kaikoria the scenery was all hills so not too bad. On entering Kaikoria there is a tunnel which is just wide enough to get the bus through, it is a one lane road. We then went to the Kaikoria look-out point, then went to the Hostel Dusky Lodge. This hostel is the best so far as it has a pool,spa pool and sauna as well as clean. The only hostel where I have had a double bed in the dorm. Went for a meal then a few of us went into town and met Lefty the bus driver for a few drinks there are only two bars so a ... read more

Hello

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura November 20th 2006

RachaelGriffiths

Hi all, just as you all start your working week today we have finished a whale watching trip in Kaikoura. Saw some sperm whales and dolphins and albatross and something called a 'white morph' (not the evil twin of the brown morph from tony harts tv program). We even had a cabin boy called Jim (lad), yarrrrr. We picked up the campervan a few days ago. It's very big and I had managed to break a few things on it already (toaster, fridge shelf and wheel arch, haven't they heard of those nifty proximity alarms here!). It is a lot of fun driving around and knowing that at any moment you could stop for a cup of tea or a shower, a sit and read in the dining area/aft cabin or even sink the bismark (what ... read more

Rain, rain go away!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura November 18th 2006

Kaikoura mountain range

Laura and Paul

Thursday 16th November Paul - Thankfully no hangover this morning. But we did get our first sleep in for ages so Laura "I managed to snooze in a tuk-tuk on a pot holed road in Angkor" Darby was especially pleased. Only the thought of a fry up for breakfast got her out of bed. After brunch we wandered down to the seal colony but as it was high tide we couldn't get out to see them close up. It was a lovely day so we went and sat on the lookout over Kaikoura and admired the snow capped mountains in the distance. Essential activites over (we read by the sea, threw stones into the water, admired the views, went shopping, argued over whose socks smelt the worst) we strolled back to the hostel to have tea. ... read more

Paul wonders what seal meat tastes like....

Whales & Sandflies

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura November 11th 2006

Denniston

John Miranda

After an overnight stop at a farmstay hostel - nobody much to talk to except Jim the dog, who in the absence of the owners said it would be OK to let ourselves in - we headed to the Buller River Valley via Murchison towards Westport. Murchison suffered an earthquake in 1929 and clearly not a lot has happened since. Westport used to be a major player in the New Zealand coal industry, but times have moved on and left it somewhere in the 1960's - and very nice it was too, after the traffic chaos of Nelson. The majority of our fellow travellers don't usually find too many kind words to say about the likes of Westport, but if you knew where to look it boasted a multitude of ghost towns, decaying Victorian engineering masterpieces ... read more

A new van for a 'whaley' good time!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura October 4th 2006

Christchurch, cathedral sq.

Big Si

SUNDAY - VANessa begins to w(h)ine! After a night of fast food and commercial big city activities (Burger King and cinema) we felt it was time to get out to the countryside once again so headed east towards the peninsula and Akaroa. On the way we stopped off at a 'French' winery/restaurant which was way out-classed our hairy-2-weeks-in-a-campervan look, but we accepted the wine tasting in a building that looked like it could have been plucked from the french countyside and dropped in a beautiful field in New Zealand, it was also decorated exquisitley inside, quite divine. As I was filming I noticed a notice sayinh win tasting $1 a glass, not the normal 'free' we were used to. The gentleman behind the bar was quite an arrogant so-and-so and wasn't very impressed with my new ... read more

WhaleWatching in Kaikoura!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura September 27th 2006

Fur Seal at Kaikoura

NewLife

On Tuesday morning we booked our whale watch for Weds in Kaikoura, so we spent Tuesday morning in the rain exploring a little bit of Christchurch before driving for 3 hours to Kaikoura. There we checked into the camp site and headed off to explore the small fishing village. The village name means 'To eat crayfish' in Mauri. 5 minutes drive away, out on a small peninsula, we visited a colony of fur seals that live on the headland, just off from the car park - one of them was fast asleep in the car park itself! We also found one that was dead, so sad! But I guess that's nature! Next link in the food chain...! The following morning we got up and headed off to the boat for the trip. Boarding a boat with ... read more

Whale Watching at Kaikoura

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura September 24th 2006

Sperm Whale

Captain Yossarian

Sperm Whales and Hector's Dolphins off the east coast of the south island... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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