Sperm whales and seals.

Trip Start Oct 01, 2007
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Trip End May 07, 2008


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Saturday, January 5, 2008

On the way to Kaikaura after we got off the ferry we noticed huge amounts of Seals along the coast on one part of the drive. I would urge anybody reading this to keep this info a strict secret as I fear the New Zelanders will decide to put a wall around this area and charge people a stupid fee in to see what is naturally there anyway. We stopped and got closer to the smelly fat lumps of blubber than we are likely to get anywhere else. Close enough to hug them as Lou wanted to do but for the fear of their large teeth. They remind me of the life I yearned for as a young fella. Lazing about all day in the warmth sleeping.

We got to Kaikaura and booked into another campsite for a couple of nights. They threw us into an area near the toilets and kitchen which at first seemed really nice and secluded but it turned out to be the noisiest place close to the generator for the pool heater and the rail track that was a short fall from the trees right beside us. A sleepless night for Lou but we both were in good spirits the next day for the Whale watching tour. It was a bit expensive but we thought what the heck considering they are such a rare thing to see anywhere in the world. Especially considering the Japanese reckon they need to kill thousands of them each year for supposed "science experiments". We know where your sushi comes from now.

The boat out of the bay to where we were hoping to see the whales was great. There was a bit of a swell at sea although it was a scorching day so we were up and down all the way with a few people getting blue faced and sick. Hehe. Not us. We were ready for some up close encounters with these 20 metre giants of the deep. Up Close? Yeah right. The first one we got to we got about 150 feet from. It was cool don't get me wrong to see him spout water into the air and then watch him do his tail dive before heading down for another 60 minute feeding frenzy. But after the second one and doing a lot of waiting around we reckoned we'd been ripped off even though we got 3 sightings which is apparently 1 more than the average. Ah well, lesson learned. For anyone heading there for the whale watching you're better off buying watching BBC nature programs or going to Waterworld in Miami or something. I know they don't control the whales but for the price they charge you'd think they owned them. What the money goes on we dont know.  So after a few pints that night we packed up the next day and headed south for Christchurch via Hanmer Springs. Scorchio. 27 degrees one day and then 29 the next. We smell like suncream and sushi. How attractive!
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