Kaikoura
Took the bus from Christchurch to Kaikoura, a really scenic 3 hour drive. Booked into a motel not far from the centre but hadn’t realised the short distance was uphill!!
Kaikōura is famous for sperm whales in the bay area due to abundance of nutrients and krill, lots of other whales inc blue, humpback, minkie and baleen visit on their migrations. Wildlife in the area includes dusky and hector dolphins, fur seals, albatross, cormorants (shags), crayfish and paua (abalone).
The day we had booked our whale watch was definitely not the best with lots of rain and very cold. A sperm whale was spotted after about 30 mins, when they are on the surface you can only see a bit of its head and middle back.
The whale was ‘holy moley’ (https://whalewatch.co.nz/our-nature/latest-news/holy-molly-returns-for-summer/) who continues to return to the area. To get that bit nearer we had a hair raising ride, holding on for dear life at the front of the boat, the kids loved it, not sure my knees liked the bouncing up and down
Once we were closer, watched for a while while he hung around the surface to gain oxygen. Fabulous view of his tail before he dived back down to continue his feeding. They can stay down for 45 mins or more, so on a trip only likely to see one or two.
After this our captain took us to a large pod, over 100, of dusky dolphins. We have never seen this many in one place, they raced in front of the boat, leaping out of the water and generally putting on a great show for us.
Took a walk down to the town on one of the sunnier days to the Motor Museum and Bernie’s Diner. Lots of restored American cars 50s and 60s cars and a few from the UK.
Also on show was that years Trash Fashion Entries, all made out of rubbish and again brilliant and inventive.
Had a milkshake in the replica 50s diner whilst Nigel finished viewing the cars.
Ventured out on a sightseeing tour of the area today with the local shuttle firm and Rick was our guide along with Tehaki (not exactly sure of the spelling). Excellent tour and saw the Kaikōura peninsula from the lookout, the old whaling pier, South Bay, and Oahu area where there are loads of fur seals and cormorants. Lots of info on the area especially the devastating earthquake in 2016, which cut the town off for a few months and destroyed the road to Picton in the North, which took one year, one month and one day to be reopened.
Picton is our next stop where we will collect another car for a couple of weeks. We then head to Nelson stopping at Havelock, where we are staying over Christmas and New Year with Katie and Tee.