My first night in the camper van was very cozy, especially given that it rained most of the night.  I was snug under my warm comforter listening to the rain hit the roof of the van and being thankful that I was not in a tent! Eventually the rhythmic thrumming of the rain lulled me to sleep but when I woke up on Tuesday morning it was to discover that it was still raining.  I quickly checked the weather and rain and clouds were to be the theme for the day.  End result—I stayed inside my cozy home for most of the day and worked on various things I had to get done, including some research on upcoming stops on my itinerary.  I did venture out mid-afternoon when the steady drizzle reduced to a light mist; I wanted to check out the possibility of booking a whale watching tour for Wednesday.  Whale watching was one of the activities I targeted for Kaikoura.  The other was the 10.7km Penninsula Coastal Walk, a loop trail that meandered by several seal colonies.  Losing one of the two full days I had planned for Kaikoura was not optimal!

I was in luck, even though all the whale watching tours had been canceled on Tuesday and people shifted to Wednesday, there were still lots of openings available for all sailing times.  I grabbed a spot on the first boat out at 7:45am, with a report time at 7:15am, since I wanted to be back in time to hike the trail and did not want to be rushed.  Luckily the meeting location for the tour was only a 15-minute walk from the campground I was staying at so while I had to get up early, it was not too bad.  Unfortunately, when I rolled out of bed at 6:30am it was very chilly and I dug out my warm clothes knowing that being on the water would only amplify the chill.  The short walk helped warm me up a bit, but I was not looking forward to the cold wind on the water.  At 7:15, with everyone checked in we boarded a bus to go to the Kaikoura south bay to board the boat.  The boat was not crowded – another advantage of signing up for the early tour!

I don’t know how I managed it, but I got a perfect shot of his tale as he dove!

Amazingly we did not have to travel far from the harbor to be in whale watching waters.  Apparently, Kaikoura is one of the few places in the world where the continental shelf falls of fast and falls off deep.  Only 400 meters offshore lies an underwater canyon system that reaches depths up to 2000 meters.  That means that whales, of all kinds- although we were looking for humpbacks because of the time of the year – can and do come very close to shore. Not unsurprisingly the town was a major whaling site when whaling was big, resulting in a decimation of the southern right whales, who made their homes in these waters, and are currently on the endangered species list as a result.  It did not take us long to find a humpback, a lone juvenile. With the climate changes more juveniles are remaining in the Kaikoura bay, refraining from going any further north until breeding instincts drive them.  This one was lazing around the surface with occasional deep dives for food so we were able to follow him for a while.

While we were tracking the whale, a large pod of Dusky dolphins appeared heading straight for our boat.  They immediately distracted all of us from the humpback because multiple dolphins were repeatedly leaping completely out of the water and splashing back down in a belly-flop maneuver.  It was both graceful and messy.  Our guide clued us in when she mentioned arial acrobatics are mating rituals so there was clearly a competition of some kind happening.  We diverted from the whale to follow the dolphins for a while, who were completely at ease coming right up to and under the boat.

Another lucky shot- got one of the dolphins jumping completely out of the water.

There were also some fur seals in the water near the boat and several different kinds of albatross so between the whales (we saw several), the dolphins (we saw several pods), the fur seals and the birds it was quite a packed morning, and we were always within a half mile of the shore line.  Amazing!

We were back at our original meeting point by 10:45 and while I had a great time on the tour, I was chilled to the bone.  The day was getting warmer, but the breeze was still cool; it was not time to shed layers yet! I decided to get some hot chocolate and warm up before heading out for my hike on the Peninsula Coast Walkway. After fueling up I headed south out of town, following the road all the way to its end at the Point Kean car park (about three miles), the jumping off spot for seeing the seal colonies.  It was low tide when I got there so I wandered out onto the rocks and got a big closer to the seals, making sure I followed the rules—per law you are supposed to stay 20m or more from them.  The rocks near the car park were not hugely populated with seals but as I continued around the corner to the south, more and more seals were lying around sunning themselves.

A view of the colony from the cliff. The seals are spread out everywhere, sunning themselves.

Close up view.

Super close up view. Happy seal, lazing away the day.

I had a choice to make—I could stay at the ocean/rock level and continue along, hugging the coastline, or I could go back to the car park and take the stairs up the cliff to follow the coastline with a birds-eye view of the colonies. I chose the high route and it was totally worth it!  The views from the top were spectacular and I could see seals spread out everywhere.  I was also able to pick out a shallow pool where many small cubs were frolicking—likely learning to swim.  The water changed color with depth and the various shades of blue really stood out against the white rock.  I could look south across the bay to the towering mountains stretching inland to eventually merge with the southern alps.  It was a beautiful walk.  I stopped frequently—there were strategically placed benches invited you to sit and take in the scenery and it was an invitation that was hard to resist.  About halfway along the coast line I found a staircase descending to the water so I took advantage of it to get some close up shots, before climbing back to the cliff route.

A close up view of how the water changes colors with the different depths. Mother Nature’s artistry at work.

Eventually the trail led away from the cliff and took a more direct route to south bay, where I had started my day on the boat tour.  At south bay, after meandering through the town a bit, the trail took a shortcut through a pine forest, over a ridge and down the other side back to the main area of Kaikoura.  The whole trek took me 4.5 hours and I figured the total distance I traversed was between 9-10 miles.  It was a nice afternoon—beautiful scenery, interesting wildlife, and the sun came out mid-day, providing a comfortable hiking temperature.  Now back at my “home” I am relaxing and sorting through tomorrow’s drive north to Picton and the Marlborough sounds.