The route to Kaikoura from Blenheim was a lovely drive through lots more vineyards and the Wither hills, which are amazing, and then the sea comes into view and its the most crazy turquoise blue colour! I must say though, my favourite part of the drive was spotting hundreds and hundreds of fur seals by the side of the road!!
We weren´t sure what they were at first so we went a bit closer..and sure enough there were lovely huge seals lazing about on the rocks and the beach! It was an incredible sight! I loved watching them..there was one in particular that we named the Molly seal as it reminded us of my Molly dog!! They are great animals, so big and so ungraceful as they move around! We watched some of the larger ones fight with others, snarling their teeth and really going for one another! It made us respect the stay back 20 metre rule. There were even some baby pups which were so cute to watch! I got some great photos with Dad´s amazing camera!
The next day we had an even closer encounter with the seals! Chris, Dad, Ian and I snorkelled with them! It was just amazing..we had great wetsuits on so we didn´t get too cold, and the buoyancy was just right so we just floated about. It was a bit scary to be that close to these magnificent creatures as you are warned to stay so far away form them on land..but apparently they are harmless in the water and are not really interested in you. So we waited for the lazy things to leave the rocks and come swimming with us..and they did!! Lots of them!! They were all around us, swimming under us and over us..I loved it!! It was one of the best experiences I´ve ever had.
Later that day we were to meet another amazing creature..the sperm whale! We ventured out on the Whale Watch boat about 20 minutes out from Kaikoura and were told there had been a couple of sperm whales spotted! We raced over to see them and sure enough, there were 2 enormous sperm whales swimming along next to us..we got so close! We waited and waited for them to show us their big impressive tails..but apparently they were sleeping!! So we left them to their nap and luckily found another couple a few miles away. We managed to see the tail in the distance which was fab! We also spotted a few huge albatrosses sitting on the water. These birds are so impressive..they are SO BIG!! We saw more sleeping whales and then returned to Kaikoura for some yummy seafood chowder! It was a great day.
We weren´t sure what they were at first so we went a bit closer..and sure enough there were lovely huge seals lazing about on the rocks and the beach! It was an incredible sight! I loved watching them..there was one in particular that we named the Molly seal as it reminded us of my Molly dog!! They are great animals, so big and so ungraceful as they move around! We watched some of the larger ones fight with others, snarling their teeth and really going for one another! It made us respect the stay back 20 metre rule. There were even some baby pups which were so cute to watch! I got some great photos with Dad´s amazing camera!
The next day we had an even closer encounter with the seals! Chris, Dad, Ian and I snorkelled with them! It was just amazing..we had great wetsuits on so we didn´t get too cold, and the buoyancy was just right so we just floated about. It was a bit scary to be that close to these magnificent creatures as you are warned to stay so far away form them on land..but apparently they are harmless in the water and are not really interested in you. So we waited for the lazy things to leave the rocks and come swimming with us..and they did!! Lots of them!! They were all around us, swimming under us and over us..I loved it!! It was one of the best experiences I´ve ever had.
Later that day we were to meet another amazing creature..the sperm whale! We ventured out on the Whale Watch boat about 20 minutes out from Kaikoura and were told there had been a couple of sperm whales spotted! We raced over to see them and sure enough, there were 2 enormous sperm whales swimming along next to us..we got so close! We waited and waited for them to show us their big impressive tails..but apparently they were sleeping!! So we left them to their nap and luckily found another couple a few miles away. We managed to see the tail in the distance which was fab! We also spotted a few huge albatrosses sitting on the water. These birds are so impressive..they are SO BIG!! We saw more sleeping whales and then returned to Kaikoura for some yummy seafood chowder! It was a great day.
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