A great weekend in Kaikoura

Posted on Sunday 30 December 2007 at 07:12 - Post Comment

Following the hoo ha of Christmas we decided to get away from it all for the weekend, and a quick bit of calling around on Thursday of last week secured a camping site for Sat night, right smack dab in the middle of Kaikoura.

Kaikoura is a seaside town 2.5 hours North of ChCh, and it is thriving on the tourism generated by a local population of dusky dolphins, and the ever present Sperm whales that swim within 2 miles of the shore.

In addition, it also has fantastic coastline, amazing mountains, great sea life, and is a renowned dive spot.  On the subject of which, I was intent on getting in the water in my new wet suit in search of crayfish and paua.  Crayfish is a lobster-type crustacean, but without the nasty claws and with the benefit of tasting just as good.  Paua is a large limpet type mollusc, with a muscular foot which is the 'delicacy' of the animal. 

On arrival, we set up our new tent with no problems, and then scooted swiftly off to the local dive shop so that I could hire a weight belt and flippers and get in amongst all the fabulous coastline that we had passed on our way into the town.

$15 later and there we were, parked up by the sea, beautiful scenery, and I was seconds away from getting involved and boy was I excited.  Before we had left home T had found a snorkel and mask stashed somewhere, and from that point onwards I had been looking forward to getting out there amongst the marine life.  As a Marine Biologist, seeing the kelp forests first hand was simply stunning.  To put icing on the cake I not only found Paua, (though too small to keep) I also found a crayfish and managed to winkle him from his rock cave home.  I was eleated - I had fulfilled a major aim of coming to New Zealand - and I had found tea too!

The water was great, and I was chuffed to bits about seeing nudibrancs (sea slugs), loads of different laminaria species (kelp), and all sorts of fish.  A marine biologists dream!  I really must learn how to dive.

 If I sound like I'm gushing, that's because I am.  It was, quite simply, stunning.  I wish I was back there now.

A slightly blurriy picture of me doing what I love:

Anyway, all that aside, after the snorkelling we headed back to town and took a bit of time at the camp site, having a swim and relaxing in the hot spa pools.  After which I cooked my cray, and then we headed off for some dinner proper.  As it happens, we went to a fish shop, and from the price of the crays there, the one I caught would have been worth $60.  Wish I hadn't just scoffed it now!

The first thing next day we went fishing, and it is here I have forgotten to tell you about T's first fish!  Myself, Hayden and T went to Sumner on Friday night for a spot of fishing and although Hayden and I caught nothing, T showed us both up by catching this bad boy:

 For the uninitiated, this is a Yellow Eyed Mullet, and apparently is one of the easiest fish to catch.  Only I've never caught one - so T has beat me yet again.  Arse.

Anyway, as I was saying, we went fishing on Sunday morning and caught - one tiny fish.  Still, we decided to put that behind us and instead go to the beach to enjoy the sunshine as it was such a beautiful day.

We then went to the peninsula, where the fur seals hang out - and there they were, waiting for us to come and say 'Hi'.  They were not the slightest bit fussed with all of the commotion of people taking pictures and the like, hardly bothering to open their eyes and moving occasionally to have a good scratch.  They kind of reminded us of Oscar when he's all sleepy, they were that cute.  There were loads far away on some rocks, but we then found these three much closer and within camera shot:

After having a paddle around the point to see a few more seals, we wandered back to the car and went to find some lunch.  It was then time to head back down to ChCh as we had things to do before Monday, but as we were passing the rocky areas that I had snorkelled the day before, I couldn't resist having another quick dip. 

So, whilst T caught some rays in the beautiful sunshine I donned all the gear and went for another wander through the underwater world.  This trip was even better than the last, starting with me finding paua by the bucket load though again they were all undersized.  I also saw some large fish that I need to look up to see what they were and if they are worth eating.  Maybe a spear gun will be on my birthday list!  As I swam deeper and the rocks got bigger, I came across a rock that sat on a sandy bottom with a big gap underneath it.  Perfect crayfish territory.  I took a deep breath and finned down to it, and on arrival I held onto the surrounding kelp fronds to keep myself in place whilst I had a closer look.  So there I am, hanging upside down at around 6 metres, with amazing colours all around, and when I get to look into the crack it reveals itself to be very nearly a cave it's so big.  And there sat within it, all looking at me with their beady little eyes and waving antennae, were a full complement of crays, from little juveniles to a couple of big boys.  It was absolutely amazing to see.  I was then out of air so had to surface, but in no time at all I was back down again and trying to figure out how to catch one for tea. 

Crays are bloody hard to grab hold of with your bare hands, because they are always facing out of their holes.  Fishing rules say that you can't stab or pierce them with anything as they may be undersized and would therefore be illiegal to land, dead or not.  Most people catch them with cray pots, like crab pots in the UK, but these aren't an option when snorkelling.  So, there's Mr Cray, waving his antennae in front of him and sensing what's going on out there in the open sea.  As soon as they sense that you are in any way trying to get near them, they scoot backwards and disappear deep into their cave/ crack.  As big as this cave was, I could only fit in so far and even reaching in as far as possible I could only grab an antennae or two.  This was no good though, as trying to yank them out by these just results in the antennae breaking.  Anyway, after a bit of reaching and scrabbling I finally managed to grab one of the medium sized ones, and surfaced triumphantly with it.  Another cray - I was chuffed to bits!

To make a great swim even better, as I was finning back to shore a fur seal came and swam around me three or four times, jumping out of the water and acting very playful.  It soon disappeared, but was an amazing - if short - experience!  Then, just as I was in about 2 feet of water I swam through an entire school of yellow eyed mullet and trevally.  What a way to end the swim - simply stunning.

After getting dried up, we took some pics of a fur seal sprawling on the rocks just below where we had parked, again looking very relaxed and happy.  Great to see them, and so close to the main road - it's kind of surreal!  There's no avoiding the wildlife in New Zealand - it just wants to get involved.

So after all the excitement we then headed home triumphant, stopping on the way for some supplies, to arrive back, tired but happy, and with BBQ'd steak and crayfish for tea.

A fantastic end to a fantastic weekend.  Kaikoura in the sunshine really takes some beating, and I hope that you get the chance to go there one day.