Kaikoura

It was sad but happy to leave Blenheim. On one hand we were leaving what was our home for over a month, on the other we had so much travelling to look foward to. And thank god we arrived in Kaikoura. We hopped off the buss and jumped into the nearest backpackers. IT was clean, modern and had a lovely view over the bay. Kaikoura is a sea side town ( i think we missed this), quite touristy - all the shops were open on sunday!!!, and a bit like Perranporth back home. Except with a pebbly beach, mountains and whales. So it was nothing like Perranport at all. Its just what Emma said.

It was white hazy afternoon with a cold wind but the golden sun still shone to warm our faces. We went in search of anything we could discover. There was a variey of touristy shops and hostels, and we were left wondering if anyone actually lived in this town. Stumbling across a Fish and Chip shop, we wer lured in by the warmth and ordered chips which we ate on the beach. Ambling down the beach some time later, we ended up on some train tracks following our noses to the supermarket to get our tea. As it happende we got so far and thought it cant be here and turned back, only to find out, yes it was just a little further. One thing we have found out here is that as far as directions and locations are concerned, we are deluded. Always. Our minds play games with us. Anyway we found a shop in town, ate tea and relaxed on a sofa, watching tv, with no other distractions.

Peninsula Walk and Seals 

Up early the next day, we were greeted by intense rays of sunshine and a blue sky. It was such a contrast to yesterday. We sat on the balcony eating breakfast, looking up at the mountains that were hidden from us yesterday. The higest peaks still had traces of snow on them. This is the life i think. no job, no money, no nothing. We than went in search of the Info centre, our second home where ever we may be. We booked up a whale watching trip for the next day and then set off on an afternoon walk around the Kaikoura Peninsula. There we saw lots of sea birds and some fat lasy fur covered seals sunning themselves on the rocks, and one itching his belly. One even had a butterfly land on him.

Whale Watching

Up mega early for the Whale watching. When we leave the hostel i notice $150 dollars is missing from my wallet. That bloody tramp in our room must have nicked it!! Thats karma as i only just recived a tax rebate from home!! Anyway to make matters even worse we missed our Whale watch trip even tho we were there. God knows how! We got put on the next boat which was good cause our captain was a pro, and she was well good at tracking the whales. We ended up seeing 2 sperm whales. That was pretty cool. They dive anything from 30 mins to 2 hours or summat like that. When they surface they do so for about 10 mins. You can tell they are coming up as they send up a spray of water from thier blow holes which can be seen from over a mile away. The part we got to see was the top of thier head, and when they dive down their tail pops up.

Just was we were going back in a few playful dolphins sweam around the boat, then low and behold and few mins later we were surronded by a gigantic pod of Dusky Dolphins. Thes are only found in NZ. There were so many jumping about, swimming so fast, that it was impossible to get a good picture, eventho there was more dolphins than water. That was the best bit for me i think.

School teacher bit ( go on its good for you- you sould learn at least one new thing each day, and today you will learn many unless you are a know-it-all) 

Throught out the year there are many whales you can see in Kaikoura, including the orca(killer) and humpbacks. The reason for this is that there is a deep sea canyon called the Kaikoura Canyon (over 1000meters) situated just off the coast, formed from the movement of the contental plate, whic also creates the mountains on land . Withinthe ocean, the flow of hot waters from the north, and cold from the south collide and travel up the canyon bringing lots of nutrients, fish and whales. The spern whales feed on giant squid that are bigger then themselves. The Albatroses seen here come to eat the leftovers of any meals. Deep down there are lantern fist and many deep sea creatures that survive in the depths by using phosphesence( lights) and strange adaptions to help them live nad hunt in the waters.

For many years the european settlers hunted the whales off Kaikoura for thier blubber. They used this as fuel then eventually for soap and cosmetics. Around Kaikoura there is much eveidence of theis past such as giant whale jaw bones used as arches in the memorial gardens, and the famous pink house which has the visable whale bone foundations. Today the story is differnt, the only pople who hunt the whlaes is the japanese. In Kaikoura thier tourist industry depends on the wildlife, and the upmost is done to ensure thier stay is a long one.

Unfortunatly ours is not and that afternoon we move on to Christchurch.