Kaikoura
1/16 Thursday Today we drive from Picton through Blenheim to Kaikoura. Again on recommendation we stop for lunch about 20 minutes south of Blenheim in Kekerangu at a place simply called “The Store”. It’s a restaurant sitting right on the ocean. The setting is kind of a rustic country feel, open, airy and casual. The food is good and it is again a beautiful day. The sun and warm weather has finally arrived or we just finally found it. We snap a couple photos and continue on our way. The remaining drive to Kaikoura is gorgeous. We are right along the coastline and it’s a scenic spot at every turn. Our drive is interrupted shortly when we have to come to a complete stop because there is a herd of sheep crossing the highway. Oh yeah, we took a picture. It was something I’d heard of but had forgotten about since all the farm animals we’ve seen have been well off the road or in large pens. It is a welcome surprise and fun to see the sheep dogs work the herd. It only lasted a few minutes but it really made a nice impression. Just outside Kaikoura we spied a turnout, which has a large colony of seals. NZ fur seals to be exact and a lot of them both in the water and resting on the rocks. They have set aside the place as a protected area and the seals have definitely left their stink on the place. You know, as much time as they spend in the ocean they sure do smell. We arrived in Kaikoura and checked into our hotel “The White Morph” which is named after a native bird. We are finding there is a custom when checking into hotels that the host will offer you milk (whole or skim), which we found out later, is for your tea or coffee. At first we found it slightly odd and we were confused but once explained it seemed fine although we thought it was for cereal at first. We also inquired about whale watching and found we could jump on the last boat of the day if we booked right away. We did and it was an excellent decision. The most common whale is the sperm whale and the Kaikoura coast is ideal for viewing. Not far off the shoreline there’s a deep-water shelf, which creates a huge upwelling of nutrients and food, sources which creates a vast food chain by attracting lots of sea life from fish to seals to dolphins, sharks, whales and seabirds. Our boat was a jet boat and the ride was quite smooth although the swells seemed large compared to the boat. The winds were light and the skies were blue. We were guided to our first whale within 15 minutes. The sperm whale comes to the surface for 5 – 10 minutes to re-oxygenate its blood before diving for 40-60 minutes. So we want to catch them soon after they come to the surface. The boat had been out earlier (twice) and uses global positioning satellite to track whales in the area and it helps them relocate them upon return trips during the day. We saw a total of 4 whales and got some great photos, especially when they dive and they raise their tales up onto the air before disappearing from the surface. If that were not great enough we caught up with a huge pod of at least 100 Dusky dolphins. We had our camera shutters snapping but they move very fast and leave you with your mouth open in awe of their acrobatic displays. We also saw a huge albatross take off from the water. Its wings are spread wide and it literally runs on top of the water to get enough speed to lift off. It’s quite comical looking. It was a rush to catch the boat and it was a rush to see the whale and dolphins. One other cool thing was when we returned to the dock and since we were the last boat of the day they backed the trailer into the water and the jet boat was driven directly onto the trailer and out of the water. A tractor pulled the trailer and jet boat from the water and we de-boated right next to our transport bus and back to where we began in town. That evening we had dinner at “The Olive Branch Bar & Café”. Good wine and local fish. Right near the end of our meal we struck up a conversation with an English couple next to us who had been on holiday travel for the last five weeks and were on their last night before a long 36-hour journey home. We swapped stories, took some ideas for spots we were going to visit and laughed at cultural differences. We talked a little politics and clarified some questions we had about the game of cricket. It was nice to meet and talk to fellow travelers. The man was a civil engineer and the woman was an automotive engineer working for Jaguar who we found is actually owned by Ford. The visit was a nice end to a beautiful, adventure filled day.