Kaikoura

We arrived to the South Island on June 11 and have had a whirlwind journey so far on our way to Queenstown for the Winter Festival. After a few days in the Marlborough region (more to come soon), we left Nelson on a sunny Tuesday afternoon headed for Kaikoura (Kai = food; koura = crayfish). Kaikoura is one of the best places in the world to see a diverse group of sea mammals, especially sperm whales. The ocean floor drops off drastically to depths of 1000m and as the warm upper currents mix with the colder deep currents, it raises plenty of food and provides a perfect feeding ground for a variety of whales and dolphins. There are also several seal colonies along the rugged coastline.

The folks at the visitor center showed us a 3.5hr walking route, which would take us by a couple of the seal colonies and eventually lead us to the top of beachside cliffs providing a spectacular view of the Kaikoura Mountain range and Pacific coastline. We didn’t make it far on the walk before stopping to indulge at the famous roadside Seafood BBQ trailer where we got an Elephant fish sandwich and seafood chowder.

We continued towards the first seal colony where we hoped to get lucky and spot one swimming around in the shallow rocky water. A few minutes later, we saw a large brown blob scooting its way through the tall grass alongside the road looking determined to cross the road. We were so surprised to see a seal this up-close we were sure it was sick and disoriented. Why would a seal be this far from the water and trying to cross the road…and not nervous in the slightest to see two dumbfounded humans five feet away? We slowly walked by trying not to startle it, but made sure to take tons of pictures. We hi-fived thinking how lucky we’d been to spot a seal on our walk. One minute later, we spotted over 30 seals sunning themselves on the rocks, sand, and even in the grass. We soon found out that hundreds of seals lounging in the area near the road is an everyday occurrence in Kaikoura.

The walking route took a sharp turn up from the beach to the cliff tops tracing the shoreline. The views of the perfectly green pastures backed by the snowcapped mountains were remarkable. We had to cross over several fences that kept the dairy cows in the respective grazing land. Rachel found out the hard way that the fences were electric – I’ve never seen someone dismount from a stepladder so fast. (We discussed how this hiking route could not exist in the U.S. in the same way it does in NZ. Farmers in the US wouldn’t take too kindly to hundreds of tourists walking through their land and alongside their cattle. Also, the courts might overflow with hikers filing lawsuits for getting shocked by the electric fence.) The rest of the hike was free from injury, although our pride was bruised quite a bit after we missed a turn and had to finish our gorgeous hike along the state highway. Once we made it back to the car, we drove 2.5hrs down to Christchurch.