Journal: January 2

Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a pleasant little town on the Pacific Coast, not far from Christchurch on the South Island. Excellent beach walks are possible here, with seal colonies along the shore within easy walking distance from town. The main attraction, though, is whales. Deep water is found very close to shore here, allowing sperm whales to be seen unusually close to land. Whale-watching trips leave several times a day, weather permitting, to view them. These trips are rather expensive, and tend to sell out well in advance, though it is often possible to get on with a standby reservation, especially on the first trip, which leaves at 5:30 AM in the summer.

I didn't have reservations, but was lucky, and they put on an extra boat at 6:30 PM the day I was there, because the weather was unusually good that day, and a lot of trips had been cancelled on previous days. We were quite lucky, and saw three sperm whales, plus a group of orcas, or killer whales.

Even more fun was dolphin swimming. This also sells out well in advance, but I was able to get on standby. The boat takes people out to groups of dolphins and drops them off, letting them swim among the dolphins, provided they are interested in sticking around. People normally swim much too slow to be much fun for the dolphins, who are much more interested in the boat and its wake. The dolphins are not fed, so any interaction is up to them. We tried five different groups, but only two interacted much. Singing through your snorkel helps to get their interest, as does staying underwater as much as possible. The dolphins at Kaikoura are small black and white dusky dolphins.

Swimming with seals is also offered commercially, but I didn't try it. It is somewhat less popular than swimming with dolphins. I did see some seals up close on my beach walk. They can be belligerant on land, especially if you get too close or come between them and the sea. But in the sea, they feel safe, so swimming with them is said to be quite pleasant.

Up: New Zealand Adventures

Journal: January 2