We chose a wonderful destination as our last stop on our tour de South Island - Kaikoura, a lively tourist center on the Pacific coast. The town is nestled against the scenic Kaikoura mountain range, which slopes steeply up from the ocean and includes several peaks that are in excess of 1500 meters. The beach is quite rocky and the perfect place for seals and ocean life to reside, and the water color of the Pacific is a brilliant blue. As if that were not enough, the area also happens to be home to the most prolific sperm whale viewing area in the world. So, a decent town to spend a few days : )
We once again stayed at a Top 10 Holiday Park which has nice clean facilities but was quite a bit busier than we had experienced when we had traveled in the Spring. All of the fairly small tent sights were occupied, and most of those campers had big cars, and huge tents with large vestibules that allowed people to stand up in a covered area and cook. (Except for the few cycle tour people who just had a bike and a single tent.) Luckily for us we had great neighbors, good weather without a single drop of rain, and (best of all) the usage of a free private hot tub, which we reserved two nights in a row for a nice relaxing soak at night.
We once again stayed at a Top 10 Holiday Park which has nice clean facilities but was quite a bit busier than we had experienced when we had traveled in the Spring. All of the fairly small tent sights were occupied, and most of those campers had big cars, and huge tents with large vestibules that allowed people to stand up in a covered area and cook. (Except for the few cycle tour people who just had a bike and a single tent.) Luckily for us we had great neighbors, good weather without a single drop of rain, and (best of all) the usage of a free private hot tub, which we reserved two nights in a row for a nice relaxing soak at night.
Our first day in town we set off to visit the fur seal colonies 25 km north of Kaikoura at Ohau (pronounced O-how) Point. Hundreds of fur seals were lounging and playing on the rocks just off the highway. We were not supposed to venture off the path but being obnoxious Americans (and everyone else was doing it too so that makes it OK, right?) we walked out on the shoreline to get a closer look. Most of the adult seals just laid there on the rocks and maybe occasionally rolled over or flapped a flipper or gave a grunt whenever a smaller seal tried to climb onto their rock. Here are some great pics of mothers and their pups.
The little cubs were entertaining and adorable, clambering all over the rocks, play fighting with each other and generally acting like puppies with flippers instead of feet. Kendra and Lauryn climbed up onto a large boulder to get a better view but were surprised when a seal cub poked its little whiskered face up from the other side of the rock! Luckily its mom was not nearby.
Jen could have stayed there all day watching and taking pictures but Lindsay dragged her away because everyone else was ready to move on.
Crossing the highway on foot, we tramped up to Ohau Waterfall, which came highly recommended by NZ Frenzy. (Pete, Kendra and Grammy and Grampa had also visited this spot on our driving trip to Christchurch a couple weeks earlier and agreed this was a must-see.) A short walk along a stream ends at a beautiful waterfall and pool in the middle of the forest. That along would be scenic enough, but the real draw of the place is that seal cubs wander up the stream from the large colony at the ocean. Accompanied by the watchful eye of a parent seal, it seems they just go in order to play. It reminded us a little of a McDonalds Playland where the Mom or Dad just rests while the kids play in an enclosed and safe place. We found one adorable little guy (male, female ?) awkwardly trying to make his way upstream.
He could have been a Youtube star because of how cute he was, sliding down rocks and squirming under branches and trying unsuccessfully to leap from rock to rock (dude, you have flippers not legs!). In fact, we will try to make this guy a YT sensation (that, and we were unable to embed the video due to google blogs data limit : ) Here is a link to a short video we posted to Youtube of the guy making his way up the path.
He/she also got quite vocal and squawky and we were not sure if this was due to hunger or agitation from all the gawking tourists. Here is another link for a video of him baby-barking.
Jen thought he was hungry and that we should feed him but the kids convinced her that this was not a good idea (also she had no sushi with her.) We watched for over 45 minutes as this little guy made his way some 30 meters over the rocks and up the stream, and just when he was about to make it to the big pool at the base of the waterfall for some really fun playtime, he turned around and started going back downstream to where his mother lay sleeping. C'mom little guy! You were so close!
He/she also got quite vocal and squawky and we were not sure if this was due to hunger or agitation from all the gawking tourists. Here is another link for a video of him baby-barking.
Jen thought he was hungry and that we should feed him but the kids convinced her that this was not a good idea (also she had no sushi with her.) We watched for over 45 minutes as this little guy made his way some 30 meters over the rocks and up the stream, and just when he was about to make it to the big pool at the base of the waterfall for some really fun playtime, he turned around and started going back downstream to where his mother lay sleeping. C'mom little guy! You were so close!
Now, to answer the question on your minds: what is the difference between a fur seal and a sea lion? Sea lions are generally bigger, walk on their flippers (where seals have smaller flippers and use their bellies more to move on land), and sea lions have ears that protrude. In temperament, the sea lion is supposedly a much more mellow creature - like a labrador - whereas the fur seal is a bit feistier - like a terrier. Well, this is what we have read anyway but we never saw any aggressive behavior from the fur seals. Anyway, here's one last pic of an adult seal looking quite regal. Its as if Jen was asking him to pose.
The next morning we woke early and walked from our tent site to the departure place for Whale Watch, which is what we were most looking forward to. 30 years ago, the town of Kaikoura was apparently in great decline and the people of the local iwi, the Ngati Kuri, were really suffering. But they formed a tourist whale watching operation in 1987 and the operation has been a huge commercial success. It isn't hard to understand why: seven nautical miles off the coast, the ocean is extremely deep and there is a tremendous source of squid, which translates to having permanent whale residents, as well as "tourist whales" who come to the area periodically to feed.
After an informative video presentation on land, we bussed to the wharf and hopped on for the two hour tour. We had a fair amount of angst about seasickness, but thankfully the sea swells were only 2 meters and calm that day (still enough to turn Pete a bit green) but luckily the trip out to the prime feeding area was relatively short. Everyone on board is instructed to look for whales (but also warned in a funny way about making false sightings) but additionally the crew also has two spotters plus the captain. Amazingly they offer you an 80% refund if you don't see a whale on your trip, so it must be with great regularity that they do have a spotting! And, we didn't see one, but two sperm whales on the surface! Not too long after reaching the prime area, there was a sighting and we zipped off as fast as possible and floated about 50 meters alongside a large surfaced whale. This one was a "resident" of the area, and they named him based on the shape of his fins and body. Here is a picture of that whale, called Tiaki by the whale watch crew, on the surface...
Here are some cool facts about sperm whales:
- collectively they eat almost as much seafood annually as the entire human population of the world. - they have the largest brain of any mammal in the world.
- they can dive to depths of over 2,250 meters deep. Sperm whales generally stay down and feed for a long time - 45 minutes on average - and then surface for seven to ten minutes while they breathe and fill their lungs. Then they repeat the process.
-very rarely do sperm whales jump or breach, so it was not like seeing humpback whales, but it was pretty awesome to see such a large mammal up close.
Here is the picture of our second whale we saw submerging. It was another resident whale, and Jen got this beautiful picture of him set against the backdrop of the beautiful Kaikoura mountains.
As if seeing the whales was not awesome enough, the captain took us toward the coastline, and we spotted a huge pod of dolphins. It was hard to estimate the number in the pod, but our best guess is that there were over 500 in a small area. They were incredibly active and entertaining to watch. After watching the dolphins so immediately after watching the whales, we fully understood one scene from "Finding Nemo." The sharks have just recited the pledge about fish being friends when one shark gets spitting mad and says "Except dolphins!" to which the other shark replies, "Yeah, dolphins! They think they're so cute! Ooh, look at me, I'm a flipping little dolphin! Let me flip for you!"
Indeed, we watched these guys flip and zip about the water all around the boat for about 20 minutes and were sad to have to leave. But we got some great pictures...
...and here are links to one of our videos of the dolphins at play...this was too cute.
https://youtu.be/gRhsB7LhaT8
Back on dry land we had some lunch and then decided to take one last tramp around the peninsula and the local seal colony, and to a lookout over the wharf and Kaikoura's South Bay. Very pretty.
After one last night at our campsite - a soak in the hot tub, enjoying the stars - we packed up the following morning and drove up to Picton and the ferry ride for home. We had arranged with a local sports bar in Picton to watch the Broncos-Patriots AFC championship game, and so we cheered the Broncos on to victory from a small bar across the world from Colorado. After, a long ferry ride and then 3 hour car ride found us back in Wanganui. We had been on the South Island for over two fun weeks, and though the experience felt like once in a lifetime, we were also glad to be home!
then of the spray from the blowhole...
and then one more as his tail came up to prepare for submersion...
- collectively they eat almost as much seafood annually as the entire human population of the world. - they have the largest brain of any mammal in the world.
- they can dive to depths of over 2,250 meters deep. Sperm whales generally stay down and feed for a long time - 45 minutes on average - and then surface for seven to ten minutes while they breathe and fill their lungs. Then they repeat the process.
-very rarely do sperm whales jump or breach, so it was not like seeing humpback whales, but it was pretty awesome to see such a large mammal up close.
Here is the picture of our second whale we saw submerging. It was another resident whale, and Jen got this beautiful picture of him set against the backdrop of the beautiful Kaikoura mountains.
As if seeing the whales was not awesome enough, the captain took us toward the coastline, and we spotted a huge pod of dolphins. It was hard to estimate the number in the pod, but our best guess is that there were over 500 in a small area. They were incredibly active and entertaining to watch. After watching the dolphins so immediately after watching the whales, we fully understood one scene from "Finding Nemo." The sharks have just recited the pledge about fish being friends when one shark gets spitting mad and says "Except dolphins!" to which the other shark replies, "Yeah, dolphins! They think they're so cute! Ooh, look at me, I'm a flipping little dolphin! Let me flip for you!"
Indeed, we watched these guys flip and zip about the water all around the boat for about 20 minutes and were sad to have to leave. But we got some great pictures...
https://youtu.be/gRhsB7LhaT8
Back on dry land we had some lunch and then decided to take one last tramp around the peninsula and the local seal colony, and to a lookout over the wharf and Kaikoura's South Bay. Very pretty.
After one last night at our campsite - a soak in the hot tub, enjoying the stars - we packed up the following morning and drove up to Picton and the ferry ride for home. We had arranged with a local sports bar in Picton to watch the Broncos-Patriots AFC championship game, and so we cheered the Broncos on to victory from a small bar across the world from Colorado. After, a long ferry ride and then 3 hour car ride found us back in Wanganui. We had been on the South Island for over two fun weeks, and though the experience felt like once in a lifetime, we were also glad to be home!
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