Kiakoura
18 - 20 February 2022
On Saturday, we drove to beautiful Kaikoura. We got there with plenty of time to take a hike along the tip of the Kaikoura peninsula. Because it was high tide, we went high walking along the edge of the cliff. We were treated with a birds eye view of a huge New Zealand Seal colony.
There were hundreds of seals on the rocks below the cliff.
Saturday morning we took a walk along the beach below the cliffs we were on the day before. The huge seal (above) was resting in the brush 6 feet from our path, and scared Julie when it barked as she walked past.
We saw a fossil on the beach.
At lunch, we got a bit of surprise to learn our booking on a Whale watching cruise was cancelled. After waiting, they let us on the trip. We had a terrific luck, seeing 2 different Sperm whales and a Fin whale.
Sperm whale, designation MSS40 diving.
Fin Whale
Mohio, a sperm whale diving to get some food. The whales usually spend about 45 minutes on the surface, re-oxygenating, so we got to see Mohio dive twice.
Karaka Lobster
New Zealand has their own large roadside (and seaside) objects. Seen on NZ1 between Kaikoura and Nelson.