Wave Watching

We went to Kaikoura to see whales, but there were none to be seen. This was despite a concerted search involving three boats and a plane.

The trip was marginal, and there was only one more boat out after ours.

The boat trip was interesting.

The boat was a catamaran with twin waterjet engines, and boy, could it move.

The waves when we went our were up to two metres and they grew considerably.

The boat was being tossed all over the sea as it moved. and must have got airborne a few times (it wasn’t slow). It was like a big jetboat ride.

For most of the time, the view out of the window was.

The intrepid trio kept hold of their lunch, unlike a lot of the others on the boat. (It was a close thing, though.

It was disappointing, as we met a couple of people only a couple of trips ahead of us who had seen three.

Fair play to the company Whale Watch,h they did give an 80% refund as we didn’t see a whale.

Apparently, it had been a good trip for seabirds, and we saw several albatrosses.

But all was not lost.

The road to Kaikoura is stunning and goes through several distinct landscapes.

There were a fair few landslides on the road, particularly one that had cut off the town.

And Kaikoura itself is well.

And we did see seals

It’s been an eventful trip so far, yet devoid of wildlife.

Today is the last full day on the southern island, and basically, it will be a mooch around Christchurch to see the new, the old, and the derelict. The first town we stayed in was not dominated by a lake.