Kaikoura Whale Watching tour

We're here in Kaikoura to chill out for Christmas, so not going to be blogging much. Just to say it’s a seaside resort town with a few great bars and restaurants and a seriously good view of the Kaikoura Mountains.

Our place is another motel with kitchen facilities. It's about 40 minutes walk South of the main town and, like …

10th of September

My Travel around the South Island would be via a hop on, hop off ‘Magic Bus’. I only had 13 days in the South of New Zealand before flying to the North and there was so much to see so my days were going to be jam packed with lots of early starts. The magic bus is a good way to meet other travellers.

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Came just to see the whales and I was not disappointed. The town used to be a whaling town, and now exists strictly for the tourism, but thankfully, not everybody has this on their stop as I found the village very quaint and uncrowded. There is a very good all day track along the ridge with great views ofd the city and the oceanfronts below …

The 3-hour ferry crossing from Wellington to the South Island (Picton) was a nice experience, because finally the weather was beautiful again and the sun was shining under a clear blue sky. Especially the last hour when the ferry arrives in the fjords. Every few minutes you enjoy new fantastic views. The surrounding mountains are not as high as in …

Our bus to Kaikoura was at 0655! The bus came and by the time everyone was on, every seat was taken. Our driver was very miserable. We decided that this was because it was a Saturday morning and he was well past retirement age! He wouldn't let anyone do anything without his say so! Off we went along the very scenic coastal journey to Kaikoura. We …

Our second day was sent off to Kaikoura. I have been to Kaikoura before and loved it. The little town is beyond picturesque with a gorgeous coastline back dropped by towering snow capped mountains. This quaint coastal community thrives off of the huge marine life in its waters. Right off the coast of Kaikoura is a deep coastal canyon over 1000 …

In order to be able to fit everything in, we needed to get up early...which some of us found easier than others :-) With a wary glance at the cloudy skies, we headed to the Whale Watch offices for our 7.15am check in. Fortunately, the tour was going ahead but we were warned that there was a heavy swell, therefore the sea sickness indicator was ' …

We learned today that Kaikoura is pronounced Kai-koda, which means "eat crayfish". If you pronounce it Kai-Kura it means "eat bird feathers". Or perhaps we didn't do that tour....but we did the Whale Watching tour, which was great. It was far from a calm day, which caused a few of us to look a little green around the gills. (He means ME... Kylie …

We were both really excited for today, very glad we decided to swap where we stayed the night and did half of the driving yesterday, the drive was much easier this morning and we were actually early. Enough time to have a bit of lunch in the 'Why Not' cafe,, why not! So we watched out for the seagulls and drove around to find the whale watching …

Kia ora or something like that.
So, I definitely didn't realise how long a long haul flight is, jeez that was crazy. emeriates come highly recommended, but would break the flight up in future.
arrived in Christchurch to a grey reception as far as the weather was concerned. A kid who had just won a BMX in aus had got the same flight as me …

... of wine. The following day dawned clear, and we cheerfully headed down to the Whale Way Station to join a whale watching trip. By the time we got there, however, the sky had turned an ominous grey and rain was ...

Our time in NZ is nearly at an end.  Here are some photos of our time on the east coast of South Island (and a few professional ones from Whale Watch Kaikoura).  As ever, blog write up to follow. ...

... here. The town it's self is very small and is basically there for the tourist. We had many activities to choose from including whale watching, swimming with seals and/or dolphins and flying a plane. I chose to go whale watching and to fly a plane. ...

... admiring them at close range.... something that all the signs tell you not to do as they will bite! Bloody tourists. After watching many people thinking that they knew better and hoping to see someone get bitten, we disappointedly head off to make our ...

In July we headed down to Kaikoura for a weekend away and to get out on the whale watching boat. We caught the Bluebridge ferry from Wellington to Picton at the very sociable hour of 3am and tried to convince ourselves that the humming and vibrating of ...

... which sometimes happens on these tours but saw plenty of seabirds and had a really good morning. The main tourist attraction in Kaikoura is whale watching so we signed up to go on a 3 hour cruise. They almost guarantee a sighting and will actually give ...

... absolutely bloody loved this place already. Next tip for NZ travellers, be honest with the I-Site traveller places, after booking onto a whale watching tour for tomorrow we headed for the I-Site. Firstly we asked about free camping, they told us it was ...

... to be repeating the phrase, 'Get to the Choppa!!!') Mar 23 At the campsite the night before we had booked a whale watching cruise for this day, in Kaikoura, so we set out bright and early and got to town with enough time to walk around some shops and ...

... with a covering of snow on their peaks. It was nice to be breathing fresh air again! The main tourist attractions in Kaikoura are whale watching and dolphin swimming. Just a short distance off shore, the ocean plunges to a depth of more than 800m, ...

... Kaikoura' video room watching a short film about sperm whales. We both thought that quiet little Kaikoura might have several small boat owners offering sporadic whale watching trips, how wrong we were. The town and its 3,483 residents is thriving on its ...