New Zealand VIII: Kaikoura- The Real Seaworld

Jan 10, 2011

Laura and I departed from Christchurch in the early morning and headed to Kaikoura, a beautiful town on the northeast coast of the south island that is known for its sea food and high density of sea creatures. On the drive up I nearly ran over a seal that was crossing the road! We both found this quite amusing. Apparently, New Zealand needs to add "seal-crossing" signs along its roadways. We arrived to Kaikoura around noon. After taking in the stunning view of the ocean and surroundings, we headed into town to sample some seafood. Kaikoura, which means "meal of crayfish," is known for its crayfish (surprise, surprise). We felt it was only appropriate, therefore, to try crayfish. That didn't happen however, because crayfish is quite costly. Way to costly for two backpackers to afford. Instead we split a seafood basket of fried calamari, scallops and fish. This alternative was just ok; not the most scrumptious seafood my lips have tasted, but I won't hold it against Kaikoura. Limited dollars means limited satisfaction in the seafood department, no matter where you are.

View of Kaikoura Coast

City of crawfish

Most tourists go to Kaikoura to go whale watching (supposedly one of the best places in the world to do so) and to kayak with dolphins. Both options were highly appealing to Laura and I, but participation in both was a little more pricey than we were willing to pay. (Oh, if only we were millionaires!) So instead we decided to go on a 2.5 hour walk on the Kaikoura Coast Track. It was gorgeous outside; a perfect day for a walk. The Kaikoura Cost Track was a long but stunning walk. We could see so many diverse land formations in one place: the ocean, beach, snow-capped mountains; rock formations; rainforsts; and woods. We even walked through farmland complete with haystacks and grazing cows! (For a brief moment I thought I had teleported to Iowa). It was unreal to see cows grazing on a cliff alongside an ocean full of whales and dolphins with a snowy mountain in the backdrop. Amazing.

View from the Coast Track 

The Coast Track through fields

Look: Haystacks, cows, ocean, mountains and snow. All in one.

Most cool to see on the Coast Track was the spot called "Seal Colony." The map we were following said it was a favorite seal hang-out spot, and to our delight it was right. We saw at least 4-5 seals snoozing, lounging and sunbathing on the rocks. For the most part they paid no attention to the mesmerized tourists surrounding them with cameras and flashes, but when someone got to close for their comfort they let you know by barking loudly at the person. Yup, seeing that kept me at a few arms length away from the cute fellows. I could just see the headlines: "American girl attacked by irritated seal." Of course, my intention was to befriend one and take him back with me to be my pet and best friend, just like in the movie Andre. I'm still dreaming. But really and truly, the seals were so much fun to see.

The walk turned out to be much longer than I had anticipated. Two-and-a-half hours on paper looks much more pleasant than actually walking for 2.5 hours. My first mistake was not wearing proper walking shoes. My feet were throbbing after climbing the pebbly path up and down the hillside in sandals. Ouch. My second mistake was not bringing water. Huge mistake. I think by the end I became a tad delirious. Laura would probably say a lot delirious, as she was walking a few meters ahead of me as to pretend she didn't know me. What's wrong with singing at the top of your lungs in the middle of open hay fields beside the sea? Nothing. It's perfectly normal, I think. I was very considerate and put my vocal cords on mute whenever others passed by so as not to humiliate Laura (although that was the whole fun of it). My point is that the coast track was long, it was hot, I was thirsty, my feet hurt and singing was the only thing that kept me going. The moral of the story is to be prepared when you go on a long walk: wear sneakers and bring water!

We're tough. We made it!

Despite my fear that we may never reach civilization, we did arrive back at Kaikoura 3 hours later. After gulping down a few jugs of water we watched a band, Parachute Crew, that was performing for free outside in the center of town. Once rejuvenated, we were back on the road again. We drove a few hours to Picton where we rested for the night.