The Factory Kaikoura

This was a fantastic experience. After taking 2 ginger tablets (for the seasickness), we set off on the boat. There were 13 swimmers and about 8 people who were dolphin watching. We sailed for about 45 minutes and then spotted a pod of dusky dolphins - about 400! We already had our wetsuits etc on so we sat on the back of the boat. When I went into the water, the dolphins were all around. When I looked ...

... started to arrive... on our way back around the coast we saw a sealion eating a big octopus which was pretty amazing to see up close... at one point I got covered in sea water as we were so close to him splashing around!

The following day was really warm and I decided to head back north...

After Kaikouri I headed up the coast road to Picton and crossed over to Wellington... it was a beautiful day and a very calm crossing which is quite ...

... time with the Seals, we never expected to see so many and they were right, it didn't matter where you stopped there were alway more than 30 on the rocks (be careful not to stand on them by accident). Either way you can smell them form a distance.

We also took the advise and purchase some fresh cooked crayfish from one of the many caravans that are on the road side.

Kaikoura is a quaint coastal village with amazing views and snow ...

... est froide mais ce n'est pas grave, je suis trop contente! tellement contente d'ailleurs que j'en souris de trop et que ca decolle mon masque sans arret... resultat, je n'arrete pas de boire la tasse salee!!... je chantonne ce que je peux dans mon tuba: pas tres simple en fait car je n'ai jamais fait de tuba avant... et puis un dauphin s'approche un peu, je nage en rond et il me suis quelques instant... et puis je prends la tasse encore une fois. Je sors la tete de ...

... was originally a whaling town where the many varieties of whale (inc. humpback, sperm) were hunted in the 1800s, but now focuses on preserving these beautiful creatures and also capitalises on the tourism attracted from all year round whale watch cruises. The peninsular has an abundance of other sealife including dolphins and fur seals which are attracted by the rich source of nutrients and smaller marine life swept up by its unique sea bed formation. If there ...

... hill with a savage viewing deck overlooking the sea!! Bit hippy once again lots of people on their frigin guitars,ha! But think we getting used to it now! Very quiet little village not a huge amount to do other than wildlife activites so booked onto a Whale Watch!! Got the the port at lunchtime - very high sea sickness warning as we had to go quite far our so Lou backed out but the Sigs decided to brave it with a sea sickness ...

We had the afternoon in Kaikoura before heading south to Christchurch and decided to go on a coastal walk. I love walking along the coasts, especially when there are cliffs and beautiful weather. We had both on this day. At the start of the walk was a lookout with a couple of fur seals. They are really lazy animals that sun themselves, go fishing every once in awhile, and cool off in ...

... br>Erm....



They were leaping out of the sea as if they had been shot out of a cannon !!!





Our group of swimmers were practically falling over each other in excitement, and eventually ...

... te onvriendelijk, een derde te ver uit het dorp... dus bleef ik maar in de Dolphin Lodge.
's Avonds zochten ze in de Ierse pub in de stad iemand die de vragen voor de pubquiz wel wilde omroepen in ruil voor gratis bier! Dat klonk goed! Maar ik bleek al te laat, er was al iemand anders gevonden. Toch bleef ik hangen en door de eigenaresse van de kroeg gelinkt aan een groepje locals, 3 jongens, die elke week meespeelden en de vorige keer gewonnen hadden. En toen ...

... good way to use up some of the pent up energy from travelling all day.

With some people leaving the tour here and new ones joining we had a huge farewell/welcome dinner in the hotel restaurant, a corny Western themed place complete with a line dancing show. The interior reminded me of the bar in the Quentin Tarantino vampire movie From Dusk ‘till Dawn. Our waiter and line dancing instructor also happened to look unnervingly like ...