Sunday, April 6, 2008

Kaikoura

On a Sunday when all our friends were away, we decided that we couldn't just sit around and wait for Sue and Doug to get here. Kaikoura has been on our to do list since we got here and since we couldn't squeeze it in to our three week itinerary, we figured today was a great chance to check it out. Fully refreshed with our extra hour of sleep (here, it's time to "fall back"), we hit the road for the two hour drive up the coast.

Although we knew we couldn't spring for the whale watching trips that the town is known for, there would still be plenty to pack into a full day. As soon as we arrived, we headed out to Point Kean to check out the seal colony. We walked for a while checking out the coast and all the little pools that the tide left behind. At first it was mostly Bull Kelp (you heard me "Bull Kelp") and shells, with only one seal that we saw from a distance.

We decided to start with the coastal track and continued along the rocky beaches. We spotted plenty of sea birds, but the seals were still hard to come by. Eventually, we stumbled upon a small group of lazy New Zealand fur seals. Of course, we saw tons of sea lions in the Galapagos, but we never get tired of seeing these guys.

After a brief stop for lunch, we climbed up the sea cliffs and took the cliff top track for the way back. Up in the highlands, we were able to enjoy some nice views. The cows seemed to appreciate the perspective as well. By the time we got back to the carpark, some of the morning's cloud cover had cleared and we were able to get a peek at the Seaward Kaikoura Range.


We're glad we finally got around to making the trip. We'll have some new guests in the morning that we'll be welcoming in with another pancake party. More to come soon! We'll keep you posted! Enjoy the rest of the pictures.

This is BULL KELP!!!

A seal on the rocks? Sounds like a good drink. (Intentionally horrible inside joke)

Taking in the ocean breeze

We had to look out for cow pies on the trail

Enjoying the coastal track

4 comments:

Unknown said...

where are all the pictures of sue?

Unknown said...

Kaikoura sounds great, but since I don't have my own blog, I thought I'd tell everyone about the trip I just took this weekend. I flew to New Orleans and saw a minor league baseball game. Go Zephyrs!

Tom said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tom said...

You mean to tell me that places other than the USA go through this daylight savings crapola? Now that's bull kelp!

I had a friend in high school who used to drive around in a Mercury Zephyr. One of those "classic" heaps of iron, it struggled up hills and could hit 50mph on the highway. Also it had an 8-track. I always thought it was the most miraculously misnamed product in all of human history.