It was Saturday 25th September and we were on our way by bus to the seaside town of Kaikoura, a small resort on the east coast reknowned for dolphin/whale watching and crayfish. The Pacific Ocean, which laps the shore is rich in nutrients attracting much marine wildlife. The sperm whales grow to about 20/30 metres long as a result of feasting on tons of krill each day. They generally travel within 20 miles of land making boat sightseeing trips possible. Our plan was to jump on one of these.

Upon leaving Christchurch we followed the rugged coastline up to Kaikoura. We actually followed the transcoastal rail line which was our original planned route about three weeks earlier but scrapped after the Christchurch earthquake.

We soon arrived at Kaikoura where our bus driver took us up to a high point on a mountain so we could overlook the town and take photos. He then took us to the YHA hostel facing the sea with pleasant views. It was really nice but a small problem and that was a 25 minute walk into town.

After checking in, we hopped on to the Magic minibus for a transfer to the whale watching tour hoping that we would see a whale or two. If none are spotted the company give a 80% refund of the amount paid which is pretty good.

We were told that the whales were approximately 18 miles out to sea and that the water maybe a little choppy being that far out (the boats only have permits to travel 20 miles from shore so our chance of seeing whales was 50:50). Given the expected weather conditions both didnt hesitate on purchasing sea sickness tablets.

After a safety video, we boarded a modern purpose built catamaran with outside decks for great viewing and photo opportunities. The catamaran had a plasma tv fitted showing a whale watching video, which we viewed from our comfortable seats. The main Maori guide provided some humourous commentary. All in all it was very professional but it didn't guarantee a sighting.

We were relaxing, when the captain of the catamaran suddenly sped up to where a whale had been sighted. He then slowed down so all on board could run to the top deck to watch. It was so awesome seeing the huge whale, especially when it dived (they do this for up to an hour at a time). A few minutes later we manouveured into position to see 3 of the whales floating together which we were told was very rare. We captured them on film as they ducked under water lifting up their tails. In total we saw 7 sperm whales. More than we had expected.

After such a fantastic trip (and having not thrown up), we hit land and sat outside a cafe for a few drinks looking at the many photos that we had taken.

The evening was spent walking around the small town and along the beach taking in the sunset. We planned to get back to the hostel, get changed and go into the town but didn't fancy the long walk back, especially with big black clouds looming above our heads.

We instead chose to have an early night as the clocks changed and we needed to be up early in the morning to catch the bus to Picton where we board a ferry to Wellington on the North Island.

The trip to the North Island will be covered in the next blog.

Take care y'all.