Sealife In Kaikoura
Kaikoura (Māori: kai means food, koura means crayfish) is a small seaside town a couple of hours drive north from Christchurch, on the South Island's east coast. The Kaikoura Ranges provide a beautiful mountain backdrop to the town and are part of the Southern Alps range that run almost the entire length of the South Island.
Due to the geography of the seabed in this region, whales can be seen close to the shore here as they are drawn up from the deep water of the nearby Hikurangi Trench. There are also large groups of dolphins in the area, seal colonies and sea birds including albatross as well. This abundance of wildlife is Kaikoura's main attraction. It is a busy little town located on State Highway 1, making it easily accessible by car or there is a frequent Intercity bus service. The backpacker buses Stray and Kiwi Experience also make overnight stops here. For a small town, it is quite lively with cafés, shops, pubs and a couple of hostels making it a good place to stay for a few days. We stayed at a lovely little hostel called the Lazy Shag, which is where everyone on the Stray bus stays but it was quiet and friendly with a good kitchen and outdoor space.
Seals
A large colony of Southern fur seals live at Point Kean, next to the car park near the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway. Living so close to a car park, they are frequently visited by tourists and can often be seen lounging on the rocky beach. Despite their usually calm manner, you should never closely approach the seals as they can attack and move incredibly quickly, so make sure you stay a safe distance away and be aware of where they are as they are easy to mistake for a rock! They do generally seem fairly happy around humans though and when we visited, we even saw an adorable baby seal sitting on a low-lying tree branch, posing nicely for photographs.
If you would prefer to see the seals from a distance, the Peninsula Walkway provides views from high above the colony and is a good trail for those keen on a walk. It is signposted from the car park and it only takes an hour or two one way. As well as the seal colony, there are excellent views out over the sea and across to the mountains of the Kaikoura Ranges. It was even beautiful when we walked it in the pouring rain! Just north of Kaikoura, there is another seal colony at Ohau Point, just off State Highway 1. Here, baby fur seals swim up the Ohau stream from the sea and use the waterfall plunge pool as a safe nursery where they can play and grow up before heading back out to live in the open sea. There is a small car park and a short walkway through the forest to the waterfall where you can stand, wide-eyed, at the gorgeous little seal pups playing in the water. Definitely take a few minutes to stop here on your way in or out of Kaikoura!
Dolphins
A main highlight of my time not only in Kaikoura, but in my four months of travelling, was swimming with the Dusky dolphins. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget and we were lucky to have enough time to be able to stay for an extra couple of days when our first trip was cancelled due to bad weather. We chose an early morning swim, and it really was early! Getting up at 4am, in the dark and knowing that I would soon be swimming in the cold ocean was hard but the excitement of seeing dolphins lured me out of bed. After a much-needed coffee and a quick briefing session, we got kitted out in full wetsuits and were on our way just as the sun was starting to rise.
Once the boat had found the dolphins, we were straight into the water with them, ready to snorkel. I was amazed at how many dolphins there were, how playful they were and also at how warm the sea was, compared to my expectations at least! They seemed to love having us as playmates, shooting right past us in the water, putting on an acrobatic performance and coming to investigate when we talked to them and blew bubbles through our snorkels.
They came so close you could have almost touched them, you wouldn't have guessed that they see this several times almost every day. Afterwards was the photo opportunity, watching them leaping from the water and swimming alongside our boat whilst we warmed up with biscuits and a hot drink on our way back to shore. I would definitely recommend doing this trip as it was one of the best things that I've done in New Zealand. If you have a few days in Kaikoura, I suggest booking the trip for your first day, giving you time to potentially re-schedule, because it can often be cancelled if there is bad weather out to sea.
Whales
Another major attraction in Kaikoura are the sperm whales often seen just off the coast. There are several companies, one of which is amusingly named the 'Whaleway Station', offering whale watching boat trips or helicopter flights but these are highly weather dependant and unfortunately when I went, my trip was cancelled at the last minute so I didn't get to see any of these beautiful creatures. The whales form a large part of Kaikoura's history, as back in the 1800s it was a prominent whaling town until the southern right whales that were hunted became too rare. In fact you can still see the original whaler cottage, Fyffe House, which is the oldest building left in the town today, for more information see Whalewatch.
If you are travelling up the east coast of the South Island then take the time to stop in Kaikoura. If possible, spend a couple of days there to give yourself the chance to see some of the spectacular marine wildlife and definitely don't forget your camera, if nothing else then for the baby seals!
