Christchurch and Kaikoura
I just stayed in Christchurch for one night before heading on to Kaikoura as I fly out of Christchurch to Sydney so will have more time there when I complete the South Island loop.
When we arrived at Kaikoura we stopped at a lookout point and had an excellent view out to sea and over the town. I stayed in the Dusky Lodge which was a great hostel - there is a mobile Thai restaurant which sets up next to the swimming pool.
In the afternoon I walked along to the seal colony. There was quite a few seals just lazing around in the carpark and down by the rocks on the sea front - you have to keep well back from them though as apparently they can turn nasty!
We decided to do the cliff top walk which got quite hairy as it was a windy day. At one point the footpath completely dissapeared due to the tide and we thought that we were going to double back but we managed to climb over some rocks and pick up the path again.
After the walk we decided we'd earned a pint or to so checked out the local bars. Fortunately the first hotel bar we went into had a roaring log fire to warm us up.
Next day I went whale watching - I opted for the flight as it was only 10 dollars more expensive than the boat trip. The plane was a 4 seater and I got to sit in the front. There was no guarantee that we were going to see anything and about 20 minutes in to the flight I thought we were going to be out of luck when a Whale surfaced - it was a Sperm Whale and was absolutely huge. Shortly after another one appeared and we were able to move between the two really quickly with the plane. They stay on the surface for a little while then do a shallow dive before doing a deep dive. The pilot could predict exactly when the first whale was going to dive and even did a countdown - the whales tail stuck up in the air before it dissapeared.
The photos aren't that good but you can get an idea of the size of the things by comparing them to the people on the boats.
After a safe landing we got a lift back to town but decided to stop off at the Kaikoura Winery. We did a tasting and a tour. The view from the tasting room was amazing. The wines were mostly white but there was one red - a Pinot Noir there was also a Kaikoura cream liqueur made with a wine base instead of the traditional whiskey base.
After the winery we watched a film before taking advatage of the poolside Thai restaurant. That night we headed out for a pub quiz. Our team name was Norlfolk Enchants and we had a girl on our team who had been on Blockbusters and held the record for the fastest Gold Run. We won but I don't think we'd have come close without Blockbuster girl! We won lots of free beer and noone was looking forward to the walk home as it was freezing and the hostel was a bit out of town - however it turned out that the barman randomly had a minibus and was staying at our hostel so ferried us all home - quality!
When we arrived at Kaikoura we stopped at a lookout point and had an excellent view out to sea and over the town. I stayed in the Dusky Lodge which was a great hostel - there is a mobile Thai restaurant which sets up next to the swimming pool.
In the afternoon I walked along to the seal colony. There was quite a few seals just lazing around in the carpark and down by the rocks on the sea front - you have to keep well back from them though as apparently they can turn nasty!
We decided to do the cliff top walk which got quite hairy as it was a windy day. At one point the footpath completely dissapeared due to the tide and we thought that we were going to double back but we managed to climb over some rocks and pick up the path again.
After the walk we decided we'd earned a pint or to so checked out the local bars. Fortunately the first hotel bar we went into had a roaring log fire to warm us up.
Next day I went whale watching - I opted for the flight as it was only 10 dollars more expensive than the boat trip. The plane was a 4 seater and I got to sit in the front. There was no guarantee that we were going to see anything and about 20 minutes in to the flight I thought we were going to be out of luck when a Whale surfaced - it was a Sperm Whale and was absolutely huge. Shortly after another one appeared and we were able to move between the two really quickly with the plane. They stay on the surface for a little while then do a shallow dive before doing a deep dive. The pilot could predict exactly when the first whale was going to dive and even did a countdown - the whales tail stuck up in the air before it dissapeared.
The photos aren't that good but you can get an idea of the size of the things by comparing them to the people on the boats.
After a safe landing we got a lift back to town but decided to stop off at the Kaikoura Winery. We did a tasting and a tour. The view from the tasting room was amazing. The wines were mostly white but there was one red - a Pinot Noir there was also a Kaikoura cream liqueur made with a wine base instead of the traditional whiskey base.
After the winery we watched a film before taking advatage of the poolside Thai restaurant. That night we headed out for a pub quiz. Our team name was Norlfolk Enchants and we had a girl on our team who had been on Blockbusters and held the record for the fastest Gold Run. We won but I don't think we'd have come close without Blockbuster girl! We won lots of free beer and noone was looking forward to the walk home as it was freezing and the hostel was a bit out of town - however it turned out that the barman randomly had a minibus and was staying at our hostel so ferried us all home - quality!
posted by Phil at 4:22 AM
1 Comments:
The seal looks well mean - you wouldn't want to cross that one! Plus the whales do look huge - scary! Love Jen x
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