Kaikoura is Better with Friends (Oct 25-27)

We wanted to return to beautiful Kaikoura and do a whale or bird tour at some point, so when we learned that a friend from Colorado and her mum happened to be in the neighborhood (Nelson) and were also interested in exploring the Kaikoura area, we suggested they join us.

Leigh and Christine arrived in Blenheim time for us to enjoy three wine tastings on Monday. First was Cloudy Bay, which Christine had visited years ago, followed by Alan Scott across the street, and last but not least Hunter's. Next we took them out to the Wairau Spoonbill colony, followed by a delicious dinner at Raupos in Blenheim.

Tuesday we all slept in and took care of a few errands in town before heading down Hwy 1. Can you guess where we stopped for a break along the way? You got it, "The Store," seal pups pool and spotted shag nests. Leigh and Christine seemed to enjoy all three stops.

After making reservations for the next day's Albatross Encounter tour and booking rooms for the night, Mike and Leigh walked part of the Kaikoura Penninsula Walkway. Christine and I opted to stay warm and wait in the car where we had a good chat while watching the seals and shorebirds at low tide. The recommendation from someone at Hunter's for the Green Dolphin restaurant proved to be a good one, and we enjoyed a great dinner with great conversation. We didn't get back to our rooms until 10:30PM!



Click here for larger images with captions.

Wednesday morning the skies were still cloudy, but it was calm and seemed warmer than the day before. We took a short bus ride over to the South Bay side of the Kaikoura Peninsula and by the time we got out on the water the mountains started to peek out behind the clouds. Soon we were watching many albatross and other pelagic birds at the back of our small boat in quite a feeding frenzy.

We were "chumming", or dragging a loose meshed cage full of frozen chum behind us to attract the pelagics.  We wondered about the eco-sensitivity of this, but from the perspective of the tour guides, we were helping to counter-balance the negative impact of humans on these birds. We saw an example first hand, as one of the juvenile wandering albatross had a fishing hook stuck clear through his leg. Our guide prepared gear to bring the bird onboard to remove the foreign object, but was unable to entice the less confident juvenile to come close enough to be picked up and treated. "What would happen to the bird now?" someone asked. "Hopefully the hook will rust and fall out, and the bird will not get tetanus." was the guide's response. Chumming, or serving "ice cream" as the crew liked to say, no longer seemed like a questionable practice.

During the tour we saw a large number of very excited and sometimes feisty albatross and petrels, as well as smaller pelagic birds. On the way back to the peninsula, we saw some Dusky Dolphins - be sure to check out Mike's glorious shot of one jumping!

After a quick lunch on the Albatross Encounter Cafe patio, we headed back to the Penninsula Walkway on what was now a very sunny afternoon. After spending some time exploring the tide pools, this time all four of us climbed up to the Kean overlook. Leigh and Christine reluctantly had to head back about half way to whaler's point, so we said our goodbyes in the high green hills between the ocean and snowy mountains. Mike and I decided to go down to the shore at Whaler's Point this time and my concerns about being trapped at the rising tide proved to be unwarranted.

After our walk, we drove up Mt Fyffe Road a bit and passed the Old Convent and Donegal's B&Bs which looked like interesting places to stay well out of the main tourist area of Kaikoura. On our return to Blenheim, of course we stopped to say hello to the Spotted Shags and seal pups.