Sunrise Lodge Kaikoura

After a pleasant journey, we arrived at the pretty coastal town of Kaikoura at around 5.00pm. Our prime reason for visiting Kaikoura was to go swimming with dolphins and seals, so having checked into the YHA we wasted no time in making the relevant bookings. Due to the popularity of the dolphin swimming excursion, we were put on to a standby list and requested to report to the trip's headquarters in town the following morning to establish whether we would be able to go or not. After a stroll ...

Amanda: We took the four hour ferry ride from Wellington to Picton on the South Island then transfered to one of the three train lines in the whole country (called the "Trans Coastal") to make our way down the east coast. Originally we were planning to go all the way to Christchurch, the biggest city on the South Island but I had read that Kaikoura was a cool little town north of Christchurch so we changed our plans and stayed there for four nights. I'm glad we did because it was one of the h...

Tristemente mi estancia en the Sunrise Lodge fue solamente de una noche, el día prometía una salida en Kayak al mar hacia una colonia de Leones Marinos, la historia es que la mayor parte del tiempo las hembras de la colonia viven en una isla y los machos en otra ubicación y solamente se reunen en tiempo de apareamiento, extraño comportamiento, la mañana fue complicada en definitiva, la lluvia hizo que mis planes del Kayak no fueran posible, Rough Water dijo el guía, así que dediqué tiempo par...

Up early and on the train to kaikoura by7. Amazing sunrise, but no clear view for a photo. Nice mountains along the train ride, that turned to vineyards as we got further north. Amazing views as we arrived into kaikoura. Big mountians ride on the water. Got a bike from the hostel and rode around town. Saw seals and albatross before headed to a viewpoint for an amzing panorama view of the city and mountains. Off to the dolphin encounter at 1230. WOW. Took a while to find them, but once we did ...

Had an awesome sleep and woke up feeling invigorated. Grabbed the bike again and headed out to the end of the kaikoura peninsula. Checked out a bunch of tidal pools(very similar to home) before trekking around the peninsula. Saw at least 100 seals, so many I was almost tripping over them at times. Accidentally wandered into a seagull breading ground and got dive bombed by a bunch of birds. Met some yankee students back at the hostel and hung with them for a while. Had some beers at the beach ...

Enroute to Kaikoura, we had a photo stop at a little lake for the views to Mount Cook. It is so depressing that the photos never come out as good as when you look at it! Nevermind, a mental image has been taken. Our destination town of Kaikoura is a little town famous for whale and dolphin watching or swimming expeditions. Situated on the rugged East coast of the South Island, the seaside settlement is overlooked by snow-capped mountains for most of the year. Unfortunately a blanket of mist a...