The alarm sounded at 07:00 but I was awake 20 minutes before. We had arranged to be spectators on a dolphin excursion boat trip out along the Kaikoura coast. As we waited for the swimmers to clamber in to their wetsuits we looked over to the mountains that were being haunted by low cloud. The sea was exceptionally calm.
We were briefed in town and transported to the South Bay from where the boats departed. It took some 45-60 minutes to locate a pod of dusky dolphins yet on the way we saw a whalewatch boat that had spotted a great sperm whale. I was fortunate to see the tail of the whale glide gracefully in to the ocean. We were several kilometres away but that didn't stop me trying to get a picture!
We also saw a couple of royal albatross sweeping across the surface of the water.
The dusky dolphins were wonderful. There weren't hundreds of them but there were about fifty in the pod that were fairly interested in the boat and the swimmers for a little while. The swimmers had been briefed to make noise through their snorkels to entertain the dusky dolphins which was rather entertaining for us! A dozen or so dusky dolphins were swimming playfully at the bow of the catamaran where Ian an I were patiently trying to get good shots of them. There were a couple of acrobatic displays for us to watch. One dusky dolphin, quite far away, performed about ten backflips one after the other which was terrific if not impossible to photograph! The swimmers seemed to be enjoying themselves but with the water being 14 degrees Ian and I were pleased to be dry and warm being fed hot chocolate and gingernut biscuits at the bow!
It was a very good trip but Ian's undecided as to whether or not he got value for money. Having returned to Kaikoura we were presented with information about dusky dolphins and given a couple of postcards free of charge.
We dined in town before leaving Kaikoura bypassing the Whaleway Station to check out prices and availability for the New Year, in the hope that we might return to Kaikoura. Sadly, the price is double the dolphin excursion and we're not sure whether the 2.5 hour journey from Christchurch will be worth the trip. I think I'd rather return to the South Pacific in a couple of years time to witness the whale migration. Still, we may yet win the BP lottery game Kachingo which we automatically enter when we buy NZD 25 worth of fuel.
We took the route down the East Coast to Christchurch and then through Arthurs Pass, where we stay tonight. The former part of the journey was accompanied with big green hills which are reminiscent of 'Hornby Railway' scenery hills or some similar model landscapes. The latter part of the journey was surrounded by mountains with snow-capped peaks, wide riverbeds and floodplains and beautiful alpine flowers, purples, indigos, pinks, whites, violets and yellows, which look very similar to hyacinths 'though I am sure they are not. [Editors Note: they are lupins!]
The journey through the Waimakiriri Valley was a picture perfect mountain scene with colourful flowers in the foreground and snow-capped peaks in the background.
There was another falcon on the road that took his roadkill in flight as we approached.
Arthurs Pass is a wonderful place to stay. It is right in the mountains and is home to the only alpine parrot in the world, kea, which is a huge bird with a strong beak. I'm yet to photograph on but I will...
Our journey from Kaikoura to Arthurs Pass covered a distance of 333 kilometres.
After a feast of hearty vegetable beef soup followed by traditional baked beans on toast I learned a bit more about the functions of my camera and with my new skills we set off to walk the Millenium Track at Arthurs Pass to see the Avalance Creek Falls lit up by night. Unfortunately no one had switched the light on. I'm sure it would have looked lovely. I did manage to spot twenty or so glow worms that had taken residence under a damp overhang near the waterfall lookout and I'm sure I heard a kiwi call... Sadly there was no sign of kea either but I don't think they are nocturnal anyway. Oh, and another thing, no possums!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!
I successfully exchanged the book I acquired in Tonga for one left abandoned on the bookshelf in the Mountain Pass backpackers.
Copyright 2002 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.