Kaikoura has it's own Whaleway Station!
Trip Start
Mar 30, 2008
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Trip End
Mar 31, 2009
Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand
Thursday, September 25, 2008
We arrived in time to check in at the I-site to find out what was on offer. There was so much on offer to do here, the top attraction though is to go looking for whales. There is an extremely deep trench just off the mainland and it is this combined with favourable currents that produce huge volumes of krill and attract the whales to the area. There are three main types that frequent the area: humpback, sperm and orca (or killer whales). By far the most commonly sighted is the sperm whale. They are adolescents around 15 years old and arrive off Kaikoura to mature after being born in the waters around the coast of Fiji to where they return to breed at around 30 years of age. There are also many different ways to go looking for them. So many in fact that we could not come to an agreement. Clare decided to go by sea and Alex was set on seeing them from the air, which meant a choice between helicopter or light aircraft
Whale murial
. With Clares trip booked and Alex's still to decide upon in the morning we looked for somewhere nearby to live as we planned to go out for a celebratory 6 month travelling anniversary meal!After deciding to risk camping right on the seafront adjacent to where Clare needed to be for her cruise we set off to find a suitable restaurant. We found the Pier Hotel a 30 minute walk away and settled into a pint as we waited for a green mussel starter. These were very dissapointing and either hard and chewy or undercooked and snotty! Not sure if this was the local way or indeed if they could make us ill we eat what we could stomach and left the rest. Fortunately the main courses came out soon and redeemed the chef, gorgeous hunks of meat perfectly cooked. Alex had lamb and Clare a ribeye steak. Very nice indeed and so with full bellies and having marked our first 6 months of travelling we headed home to the van.
Around 1.30 am we both awoke rigid with fear to the most horrendous noise! It sounded like an earthquake. We realised then that where we had parked in the dark earlier that night right beside a 'whaleway' line and it was huge heavy cargo train that was thundering past only metres from where we lay.
6 month travelling anniversary meal
Friday 26th September
The next day brought some fantastic weather as Clare set off early doors for her boat trip. While away Alex had a slow morning and finally decided to book the light aircraft trip and then a fishing trip to hopefully help stock the larder. Clare arrived back at lunchtime delighted to have seen 2 sperm whales, dolphins and albatross on the trip. The two whales were called Tapi and Little Nick. Alex hoping to see the same whales set off on the small four seater aircraft at 12pm and luckily also saw one sperm whale which unfortunately dived after only around 5 mins. They can dive for 45 minutes to feed after a break of only 10 minutes. As the flight was only 30 minutes there was no chance of seeing this whale again so the rest of the flight was spent searching for others and then sight seeing. It was really good and as always Al really enjoyed the whole flying experience.
A quick dash back into town and as Alex jumped onto a fishing trip, Clare was left to have a relaxing afternoon of lunch by the beach and wandering around the town. The fishing trip was really good, run by a motley crew of two locals. Whilst on the trip Alex saw lots of wildlife including seals & sea lions and lots of sea birds. Best of all it did mean that we now had a crayfish for supper and about 20 small perch fillets to keep us going. So that evening we went out to the seal reserve to cook our crayfish. Small problem had to be resolved first, how to dispatch and cook the cray. After seeking some advice Alex set about drowning the cray in fresh water, the recognised humane way of slaughter. It took over 20 minutes before the cray finally gave in. Al halved it, using the great knife that Ben bought him, which coincidentally has been exceptionally useful throughout the trip, and prepared it for frying. It was delicious and even Clare was most satisfied.
After relocating back to the same spot as the night before we tried some of the fish, which again was really tasty and washed it all down with some Sauvignon Blanc.
