The whale that cost me my lunch

Cavorting seals

View from Pitt Lookout in Able Tasman

Waiting for the boat at Anchorage

A resident of Able Tasman

View of the beach from the Anchorage camp ground

End of the day on the tidal flats


How much fun is this?

Wow, yuck and whoa!

This country has some unparalelled vistas.

Thursday started with a leisurely track along a coastal bluff at Kean Point on the periphery of Kaikoura. After parking the Beast right up against the largest tidal flat I've ever seen (and waving at a couple of fur seals who were laying out in the sun waiting for the tide to come back in so they wouldn't have to crawl their way back to the water). The short route took us along pasture land (and when I say pasture, there were indeed some patties to side step) looking down at a white beach leading gently into turqoise water and a fast sea beyond. From the bluff, the view was awesome, especially as we had a blue sky day with light fluffy clouds. The kids happily scampered up the initial incline and were amazed to find shells at the top (likely dropped by gulls trying to get at the yummy innards).

It was the return trip along the beach though that was the highlight. It was a treasure trove for beach combing and Kiyomi was in her element. The beach was more shell than sand and it went along for a couple of kilometers. In addition to the numerous shells, we found bones, a seal skull, a fossil and a seal carcass. I wasn't initally sure how the kids would react to that, but they were fascinated. Oh ya, and there were the live seals as well. They come to the point for a little r'n'r after a night of hunting and are pretty much just beaching waiting for the tide to come take them back out. In fact, on two occassions, we didn't even notice a seal in our path until he conveniently snored to alert us to his presence. A very big wow-factor!

Back at the Beast, we made some sandwiches and just chilled watching the tide slowly make it's way back in. It was a pretty amazing spot for lunch, and pretty interesting to hang out with the seals. For the record, we couldn't even make them look up!

After lunch, it was a whale watching trip. Something for which Kaikoura is well-known. They actually have some pretty sophisticated equipment and will track the whale to maximize the change of seeing one. There is a deep water trough not far off the shore which is actually the year round residence to sperm whales and in the summer months also home to migratory species such as humpbacks. The good news is that we managed to see a whale, the bad news is that I managed to loose my lunch. This is where the yuck comes in. Seems I remain a landlubber with a weak stomach at the best of times and the swells were rather unpleasant. Kiyomi, I think enjoyed the experience. Ren, however, slept through most of it and woke up saying "where da whales?"

Friday was a jaunt up the coastal road towards Moteuka. Our first stop was 20 minutes down the road at Ohau Point, the home to a huge seal colony. There were hundreds of them clamboring over rocks, jostling each other, lounging on the rocks, swimming. Unlike the ones from Kean Point, these ones were active and busy. We spent quite some time watching them, especially teh cubs and the juveniles. The kids fought over the right to hold the binoculars the wrong way round to "see" the seals.

The rest of the drive had the same adrenal effect as driving across the Saskatchewan prairie in a white out snow storm. It would seem camper vans are not well handled in high winds, and with gusts preported to be up to 100 kms hours, we were not amused. The van literally shook with the wind, and when a gust hit, the whole business floated like a leaf in the wind (or at least that's what it felt like as the driver). Adding insult to injury were the steep, windy roads, with the vertical drops along the edge and the laughably posted speed limits of 100 kms an hour. Without a doubt, as long as I'm driving the Beast, there will be no speeding tickets. And that's how we got to the whoa! It was a relief to finally see the main strip of Moteuka and uncurl by hands from the steering wheel.

Moteuka itself is a feeder town for a number of national parks that sit on the nothern end of the South Island, including Abel Tasmin. This, I'm convinced, was the setting for any and every stranded in paradise movie. The park is served uniquely by water taxis, and you motor in to either hike, camp or just plain hang out. From the boat, you see an undulating flow of soft green's interspered with golden crescent beaches. The word "inviting" was coined for this type of place.

Our first stop was the little tourist hamlet of Kaiteriteri out of where the water taxis run. We boarded at 9:15 and set out a little bay called Anchorage. It was a pristine, half moon, white sand beach with a gentle slope into turqoise (albeit cold) water. Kohji and I were a little envious of the trampers who were camping at this spot, but we consoled oursleves with a short tramp up to Pitt Head Lookout and a brief descent to Te Putekea beach - which at high tide was a shoe string, but no less fascinating to hang out it, especially as we had it all to ourselves. The highlight here for the kids was dragging drift wood across the beach (for no descernible perpose other than they could!)

After lunching on the beach, we got the taxi back to Kaiteriteri. Once again, the campervan proved awesome as we hung out for an hour or so while Ren napped, and Kiyomi did some school work. It was a little surreal, actually, to be doing all this day to day things, but to look out the window at a breathtaking beach (am I sounding like a campervan commercial yet).

Saturday night, we found ourselves in the small little hamlet of Pohara, after a harried drive over Takaka Hill - twisty roads, steep drops, 2nd gear, need I say more? The views up the valley were idealic, with lush green fields dotted with sheep (what else). The kids exhausted themselves running around the tidal flats (tidal flats seem to be very common feature of the coastal landscape around here) and collecting other treasures. All in all, not a bad way to spend a couple of days!

Sunday was a lazy day, with Kohji and the kids not even stirring until 9ish. And now, we're seating in the little town of Collingwood, chilling at the one and only local restaurant (Collingwood isn't big). where the food was awesome (Kohji and I had grilled cod) and they even have a little sandbox for the kids. We're contemplating spending the day...

Things we've learned over the last few days: whales will dive to around 850 meters and will stop clicking just as they are about to surface, "cool" is a very commonly used term in New Zealand used as an "uh-huh" or "ok".