The drive to Kaikoura took a couple of hours however the coastal road had some amazing scenery and made it difficult to keep your eyes on the road at times. The ocean is the most amazing shade of blue and all around were snow capped mountains and rugged coastline for miles. At one point we pulled over to have a closer look at a seal colony who were sunning themselves on some rocks at the side of the road! When you first look at the rocks you almost don't see anything as the seals are the same colour, then you start to spot them and realise there must have been about 20 seals disguised on one small stretch of rocks. We arrived in time for lunch and a walk around the town. After lunch we went straight to the information site so see about booking a trip to go whale watching! We had picked Kaikoura to go whale watching as there is only one company in the town who offer the tour so the whales are not over run by tourists and they offer a 95% success rate on seeing a whale. They also offer an 80% refund on your ticket if you don't see any whales so we felt there was nothing to lose! Unfortunately the tours for the day were cancelled due to poor weather conditions however they were hoping to reopen the following day so we managed to get a slot on the 10am boat (weather permitting). After booking the tour we had a walk around the small town which had few shops and cafes but not much else. After finding Mike a book from a second hand book shop (new books are expensive in NZ) we headed back to camp to make dinner and say our prayers for good weather for the whale watching the next day. In the morning the sky is blue and it doesn't seem too windy so full of optimism we walk to the whale station to find that for the moment the tour is on. They are expecting a storm late morning/early afternoon but at the moment all is well! We watch a video about whales from evolution right through to their behaviour and rituals then when that's over its onto the bus bound for south harbour to pick up the boat. The boats they take you out on are really modern and well set up. There is and upper and lower viewing deck as well as a comfortable seating area inside. Because the boats can go pretty fast to track the whales we all have to be seated when the boat is moving and the captain will let us know when we can move outside. They have an echo graph which picks up on the whale noises and pinpoints their location and there are also helicopters above which report any whale sightings. Within a few minutes of being on the boat the captain has a potential location of one of the resident sperm whales so we go off in search. Eventually the captain gives the ok for us to go to the viewing deck and Mike and I are the first ones there. We couldn't believe our eyes when there in the water was a massive sperm whale about 10m from the boat. They stay on the surface anything from 3 to 15 min so we had no idea how long it would hang around. The whale was massive with us seeing 80% of its length above the water however rather scarily we could only see 20% of its mass with the rest hidden under the water! We got maybe 5 minutes when the tour guide indicated that he was about to flick his tail and go back under. With camera poised I managed to snap the tail just before he went back under the water and we were left in awe of what we had just witnessed. We were only a couple of minutes back in our seats when the captain had another location on a whale so we were off in hot pursuit. Soon we were back on the upper deck to see another massive sperm whale floating on the surface. You just cant get your head around how massive they are or how close you are to them in their natural environment it is such an amazing experience. After about 5 minutes he blows water from his blowhole, flicks his tail to his audience and is gone. Again its back into our seats and we are off in search of the more unusual humpback whale which had been spotted in shallower waters. On the way to the humpback whale the captain invited us onto the deck to see a large pod of dusky dolphins which had come over to say hello. When we got onto the deck at first we could see maybe 6 dolphins in the distance however within a minute there must have been about 50 dolphins in the water around the boat. It was out of this world they were coming right up to the side of the boat, jumping around, swimming under the boat and putting on a fantastic impromptu show for the tourists. For as far as the eye could see there were dolphins everywhere in smaller pods swimming and jumping around. Me being the soft sap that I am actually had a tear in my eye I was so overwhelmed by all the dolphins having never seen a dolphin or a whale before! By the time we got to the area with the humpback whale he had unfortunately gone back under however there was another sighting of a sperm whale so the fun wasn't over yet! Once we arrived at the location we again took to the viewing deck to get some amazing photos of the massive whale swimming around and blowing water from his blow hole. Suddenly I happened to glance to my right and couldn't believe my eyes when there was yet another huge sperm whale about 100m from the first. Within about 5 minutes they had swam to each other and were floating side by side really close to the boat. The guide informed us that this was a once in a lifetime experience because the area is a feeding pocket and whales would never normally hunt or feed together. The scene had all the guides on the boat running for their cameras as many of them had never seen two whales together before. I just kept snapping the camera trying to capture as much of what we were seeing as possible. Everyone on the boat was silent all snapping away on their cameras not taking their eyes off the whales. Before we knew it the whales were preparing to dive in unison, the picture we just had to get. I don't think I will ever forget the sight of the two massive whales arching their backs and then flicking their tails at exactly the same time before disappearing under the water. There were gasps all over the boat as nobody could believe what we had just witnessed and quickly everyone was checking their cameras to see if they had caught the moment. I had taken charge of our camera so I am pleased to report that we were not one of the tourists moaning that my camera hadn't flashed in time or that I had missed it!! I had photos of them arching their backs and then flicking their tails together so I could breathe a sigh of relief. Once this was over it was back into our seats to begin the return journey to the harbour. We had time to stop beside a seal colony for some photos before we were back on dry land and desperate to get back to the van to see how our photos looked on the computer. Both Mike and I agree that it was one of the highlights of our trip so far ,for the weather to hold out for us, to see whales, dolphins and then the rare sight of 2 whales together was truly awesome. After the whale watching we went back to the campsite to get some lunch and with no sign of the expected storm we were able to have lunch outside with two special guests… yes you guessed it Mr and Mrs Duck. After lunch we took the van further round the coast to the Kaikoura peninsula to take on the scenic coastal walk. The view from the top of the coastal walkway was amazing, you are surrounded by snow capped mountains to the left then stunning ocean and coastline views to the right. After shouting at two stupid boys who were throwing huge rocks off the edge onto people walking below we decided to walk around the peninsula for more beautiful views. We got about 10 minutes of the peninsula walk when suddenly the weather turned and I mean really turned, it was crazy. The blue sky was instantly replaced by grey clouds, and then came the wind which was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was gusting so hard at times we just had to cling onto the fence or we would have been literally blown across the field. You couldn't walk because the sheer force of the wind was too much to walk into. We were both laughing our heads off at the time however if I had been much further from the van I would have been a bit scared about how we were going to get back down. As it was we just took it a little at a time clinging onto each other and whatever tree or fence post we could get to. Eventually we made it back down in one piece and the incoming storm had completely obliterated the snowcapped mountain view. Fortunately we had managed to get all our sightseeing and photos done so we were happy to head back to the camp for dinner and to toast our wonderful day over a glass of one of our vineyard wines, yum yum!