From the South Island back to the North

Saturday 20th August 2016 – After lovely hot showers and a rare glimpse of the Olympics over breakfast we left Moeraki Village Holiday Park and started our long journey up the East coast northwards towards Kaikoura…the most famous residents of which are sperm whales! On the highway mountains enticed us on in the distance. Beautiful sunshine lighted our way as I looked lovingly at photos of the adorable Yellow Eyed Penguins…the cutest birds around. Our favourite supermarket now is ‘New World’ so we stopped off at one to buy cheap beer for Aaron and chocolate for me! Driving on we spied more seals on the craggy rocks sunning themselves as the sun set once more on this beautiful land. Arriving in Kaikoura we drove to the whale watching company but it was closed so we made camp at Puhi Puhi campsite determined to get up early to find out more information on seeing those magnificent elusive Sperm Whales.

Sunday 21st August 2016 – We woke up to another bright, sunny day in the whale watch capital of New Zealand. Snowy mountains greeted our awakening as we drove to ‘The Whale Watching Station’ to book tickets to hopefully treat our eyes in seeing our first ever whales. We were in luck…the weather was good and the ocean perfect and we were booked onto the first boat out that day. At 10 am we headed out on the Aeoraki…the name of our boat, speeding away from the dramatic coastline of the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains which appeared to knife into the blue sea looking into the eyes of the South Pacific Ocean. Our female skipper was fab whizzing along as water sprayed and foam was left in our wake. We were in one of the few places in the world where Sperm Whales can be seen year round…we were bubbling with excitement! The whales congregate here because the 3km deep Kaikoura Canyon runs right up against the coast creating a rare system of sea currents that sustain an incredibly rich marine food chain. Sperm Whales are at the top of this food chain and the abundance of fish ensures they make the waters of Kaikoura their home. Kaikoura plays host to the male sperm whales only, with the females and the young whales found in the warmer tropical waters. We were not expecting the incredible encounters that were to come. Within 10 minutes our skipper sped to our first Sperm Whale…magnificent and majestic as he spouted through his blow hole…enjoying his air intake to maximum. I couldn’t believe my eyes…this stunning creature right before us…a Moby Dick of our own…goose bumps invaded my body at this magical sight. Then…he turned…took one last breath…and dived with a glorious goodbye from his phenomenal tail…wow, I was speechless. Two more captivating encounters came making an exquisite trio of wondrous whales. It was an unbelievable experience that is imprinted in my memory forever. To top it all off we were treated to a vast pod of dusky dolphins…swimming, playing, somersaulting and laughing before us…what a trip! On the way back to shore we heard there was a Blue Whale in the vicinity but it was too far away for us to visit…but it was there…the largest whale in the world. What a truly bountiful sea life New Zealand has…and we were lucky enough to have been part of it for a few hours. Leaving our whales behind we visited Ohau Point Fur Seals where a colony was chilling out on the rocks. We walked up to Ohau Falls and witnessed a lone seal pup swimming, splashing and playing under the waterfall. How the pups manage to clamber up the stream to this playpen is anyone’s guess…but they do and find a creche heaven when they get there…adorable. Onwards we went nearly on empty for petrol as Aaron changed the gear to neutral every time we went downhill…a bit stressful to say the least. Eventually we came across a petrol station and filled up in Blenheim and even managed to catch the 7pm ferry back to the North Island. At 11pm we were in Wellington once more…what a wonderful day it had been.

Monday 22nd August 2016 – We awoke in Wellington. It was windy and cloudy so after breakfast we headed into town for coffee at Midnight Express and then on to the Museum Te Papa. There we discovered and learnt about the treasures and unique stories of New Zealand on six floors of displays…from Maori and Pacific culture to art and the natural environment. For me the ‘Gallipoli’ exhibit was the most moving where stories of New Zealanders in the World War 1 campaign was laid before us…very emotional. Other highlights were the Moa, a giant ostrich like bird now extinct from over hunting and the colossal squid. After delicious fish and chips for lunch we headed northwards, stopping at Foxton Town…an interesting place where we chatted to locals and looked in shops. Our drive was long that day…arriving at Mangahuia Campsite we cooked warming, hot stew…chatted to a threesome of Frenchies and settled down for the night at the foot of Mount Ngaurahoe…otherwise known as Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings!

Tuesday 23rd August 2016 – A rare lay in…and lovely it was too. At 10am we looked up into the eyes of Mount Ngaurahoe (Mount Doom). It was covered in snow and very beautiful, so charismatic in its character and a film star too! Unfortunately as it was winter you needed special equipment to climb this icy mountain…crampons, sticks, rescue items…you name it…you needed it. We decided to walk the route to the mountain as far as we could safely go and set off for what turned out to be a six hour return route. I have never walked in snowy mountains before…but today I would. We started on our trailhead…the views of the mountain were spectacular and we couldn’t help but take a photo of the ‘ring’ in front of the mountain…the ring to rule them all! At Soda Springs, a pretty icicle laden stream we decided to continue…up, up, up we went, at times thick snow beneath our feet. The weather was glorious and the volcano watched us with interest as we angled towards it. Just before Red Crater we came to what I can only describe as snow fields…we were surrounded by a pure white snowy plateau…a game of snowballs later and a steep climb up the ridge we took in the view and knew that we could go no further without specialised equipment. We had however got much further than we thought and loved every minute of it. After our decent we sipped a warming cup of tea, hungrily ate lunch and made camp at Waikawa campsite…a smoking volcano in the distance puffing away and telling us it was alive!