Blogs from Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 9

The clouds cleared so we thought we would attempt another peak called Mt. Fyfe. The grade was called easy/moderate in our book. SIKE!! If that is easy then I would like to see what they call hard. Maybe it was easy because it was on a road the whole way up, but it was also the world's steepest road. We figured out that we climbed 1000 feet a mile. The views were awesome though. The Kaikoura range was on our backside and the Pacific Ocean was on our front. After somehow making it back down we went to investigate the fur seal colonies. They were incredibly cute and smelled incredibly bad. I think that one of the layers in hell could be just having to sit in their stench for the rest of eternity. Musky with ... read more

It was gloriously sunny, the water glassy and clear - perfect for an evening kayak. Kaikoura kayaks are a small, friendly family business ran by Matt and our guide or the next next few hours was Garry - a friendly kiwi chap - passionate about the ocean and very knowledgeable about the unique Kaikoura region and the marine, mammal and bird life living here. The Kaikoura peninsula has an unusually deep shelf close to land which makes it the best location for spotting a variety of marine life in New Zealand. There were 3 of us from the Flying Kiwi tour - 2 with some kayaking experience and one complete beginner. As we unloaded the double kayaks the sun glistened on the water and the mountains loomed above. With long paddle strokes cutting the water, in ... read more

Flight to Christchurch is on time and we even had time to invest in the business lounge before take off! Picked up hire car and we're driving out of the airport 20 minutes after landing. Two hours up state highway 1finds us in the small coastal town of Kaikoura. Very picturesque with snow capped mountains tumbling down to the sea (do mountains 'tumble'?) Extremely good meal at the White Morph restaurant (I'd recommend the seafood chowder ) & another excellent bottle of Cloudy Bay (of course! ) Early start the next morning (no time for breakfast ) as we have to be at the whale watch place at 7:15. The first doubts arose when the noticeboard suggested we buy sea sickness tablets from the gift shop. (which we did) A quick coach transfer took us to ... read more

Wiederum wurden wir wieder von der Sonne und dem rauschenden Meer geweckt. Nach einem ausgiebigen Frühstück machten wir uns auf den Weg zum Wale-Watching. Als passenden Untersatz wählten wir den Helikopter. Auf dem 30 min. Flug konnten wir aus einer Höhe von 150m die beeindruckenden Pottwale (Sperm Wales) beobachten. Die Wale sind die drittgrößten Wale der Welt und erreichen eine Länge von bis zu 20 Meter. Die Wale haben jedoch das größte Gehirn aller Säugetiere. Bei herrlichem Sonnenschein machten wir mit dem Helikopter noch einen kleinen Zwischenstopp auf einem Hügel. Von diesem hatten wir einen wunderschönen Blick über Kaikoura und dem Pazifik. Anschließend machten wir noch einen 3,5 stündigen Track zur der Robbenkolonie. Die Robben machten alle einen sehr relaxten Eindruck und ließen sich die Sonne auf den Bauch scheinen. Wir konnten die Robben aus nächster ... read more

Laura’s week in New Zealand – Part 2 (Wanaka & Kaikora) Day 3: Before heading out of Queenstown we visited the Kiwi sanctuary for our first close encounter. They house the kiwi’s in a shed with a glass viewing area, which is kept dark in the day and light at night allowing us a good look. They are bigger than we thought, with a long beak and whiskers; the female also lays eggs which are about a third of her size – ouch! We stopped off for some wine tasting and an amazing cheese board at Gibston Valley (they even had a yummy goat’s cheese for Tory so she could join in the cheesefeast!). We were slightly disappointed with the wine which was too oaky for our taste - check us out with our new found ... read more