Kaikora – February 24-26, 2007
Once out of Picton, the landscape changed drastically from what we were accustomed to. We drove over endless bare, dry mountains the golden color of beach sand; the only green was on those with perfectly maintained vineyards. As we neared the ocean, the land became increasingly green, littered with rocks and evergreen Christmas trees lining the empty coast (no homes or beach condos here). We still had trouble grasping that as we drove south, our surroundings and the temperature became colder (our idea of driving North in the states). With stunning mountains lining the coast, we watched a train pass by (meters from the beach) through mountain carved tunnels.
We reached Kaikora, a town originally inhabited by the Maori people, then settled by the English as a whaling town. The English taught the Maoris how to whale and huge whale rib bones still jut out of the local seaside park grounds for children to play around. The small and quaint town is now known for whale watching (whaling being banned by the government in the 50’s) and skiing, and was littered with hotels, hostels and B&Bs. However, looking around, we found hostel after hostel full; we began checking every hotel. Every hotel, every hostel and every B&B was full. As we got to each new hotel we started to see the same cars pulling in ahead and behind us. Others off the ferry were looking for accommodation and we began to feel a slight onset of panic, followed by the notion that one night in the car wouldn’t be that bad, would it? As the howling wind picked up and the temperature dropped, we ran into our last option. The owner had just had a cancellation and the apartment style room was NZ$ 110. As she asked if we wanted it, 4 people walked in the door looking hopeless and we said yes. We gratefully watched as she walked outside and popped the NO sign in front of VACANCY, while others pulling up to check drove away disappointed. There had been too many coincidences lately. The car on the North Island had died 3 times, all at the most convenient times. Now as we unloaded our bags, the owner congratulated us on getting the last room in town- literally. Now more than ever, we felt the prayers from home and felt like we were being watched over from above. It was becoming too often to be just “luck”. We settled in and left to book a hostel for the next night. We again found the last room available in the best cottage style hostel in town for a fraction of what we were paying. There was a farming convention in town, which was the reason for everything being full. With the entire country comprised of farms, we hoped it wouldn’t be an issue in the other towns.
Back at our place, we thought that we shared the living room and kitchen with the other single bedroom and eventually realized that it was all ours and that was the reason for the high price. We took advantage of it, watching a movie and spreading out for the first in a long time. As it became dark, Chris went to grab a shower. Afterward, he opened the door and irately slammed it. The window in the bathroom wouldn’t close and while we was showering hundreds of sea gnats (gigantic flies) swarmed the bathroom, having been attracted to the light. After we rigged the window latch with a butter knife, we went on a killing rampage- Chris being much better at it than me. He curiously asked me if I had already taken a shower. I laughed and said, no- I’ve been sitting here in my jeans the whole time. He said that’s what he was afraid of and told me to look in the shower. The walls were covered in gobs of long dark hair. Now, we are aware that when backpacking and staying in hostels, we would need shower shoes and were used to the occasional dirt and grime. But nowhere had we seen this- not in Mexico, El Salvador, Thailand or Indonesia and not for $110. We decided to leave the hundreds of lifeless flies laying around, smashed to the walls and I was adamant that we would be getting some of our money back.
The next morning, we went to check out. Minus the flies and hair, we left the place spotless. As our neighbor was complaining to the owner and telling him that she wasn’t going to pay the full amount, I was frustrated hearing him say that was the price and he wouldn’t back down. He paused to help me and I asked if I could show him something. We walked to the room and I told him about the flies, showed him what we were doing for an hour the night before. He became quickly defensive and told us it was because we left the light on. “No”, we said, “it was because we decided to shower after dark and your window doesn’t close”. After that we showed him the shower walls and there was nothing more that he could say. He fairly asked if $80 was okay; gleaming we said yes and took the $30 in cash, treating ourselves at the grocery store later.
It was a new day. The wind had settled drastically and a clear blue sky appeared above. The temperature hovered in the high 60s. The frantic rush of travelers looking for rooms the night before had settled to an easy seaside town-pace. We checked into our hostel (which looked more like a B&B) and packed a lunch to go for a seaside hike. Besides the whale watching, Kaikora is also known for its Fur Seal colonies. A stunning 3 km cliff top hike with a seaside walk below allows people to view the seals. We decided to do this free walk instead of paying $150 for the whale cruise hoping we would at least get a close view of the seals but we had no idea what we were in for. The trail signs said we could get as close as 30 feet so we kept our fingers crossed that we’d see some. After doing the first half of the walk on the cliffs with breathtaking coastal views, hills, cows, sheep and some far-off seal sightings below, we hiked down to the beach to do the seaside walk back. The shoreline was gorgeous – azure blue and emerald green coves washed up on bleached-white limestone rock beaches. Sharp rocks jutted up all around that looked like they’d been dropped from the moon with sheep lazing around next to the ocean’s edge.
As we hiked around the very first rocky point we came up on a seal colony perched on the jagged limestone rocks right on the beach. We looked around wondering if we should try to get closer then noticed two hikers out on the rocks already, right by the seals. No one else was around for a mile. We walked out on the rocks as quietly as we could hoping not to scare any seals away but were surprised when they didn’t seem to mind our presence. As each one caught sight of us walking by, they’d lift their head to follow us, pose for a bit, then go back to barking at the rest of the colony like we weren’t even there. Most of them stuck to the spread-out group of about 30-40, while some wandered off down the beach on their own. But, they all had the same pose – head high reaching for the sun, scratching their side with a flipper like a dog and this adorable squint as they hammed it up for the camera and sun bathed. Their faces and actions carried so much personality we were smitten at once. We sat on a few rocks about 20 – 30 feet away and just took it all in as they carried on with their business around us. It was incredible, but nothing like what we’d come across next.
As we left the colony and walked a little down the beach, we came across one of the free-spirited seals, alone and sunning by the water’s edge. He was rolling in the sand, scratching, shaking off like a dog and just carrying on having a great time. Jenny wanted a few more pictures so she decided to test him a little and see how close she could get (we looked around first to make sure no one was around). I walked further up the beach so as not to intimidate him while Jenny crept down and slowly approached him. As she got closer we kept looking at each other in amazement expecting the big guy to dash off into the ocean. But with each slow step, he just seemed to show off more for the camera. She finally stopped about ten feet from him to give him some space but he didn’t care at all. I was so excited I just stood there with my mouth wide open, forgetting to take a picture of their exchange. Jenny used up almost every picture left in her camera catching every turn, every whisker and every look in his big eyes. He was beautiful and we crept away to let him enjoy the rest of his day at the beach in peace. It was one of our coolest wildlife experiences ever.
Tags: Travel
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