Kaikoura Trip
 

Last week took my dear old mum down to Kaikoura for an overnight trip to see the whales... it's been her dream for many a year and at the grand old age of 77 she probably won't be up for chasing whales in a speed boat for too much longer! Set of on Wednesday, the four of us and set sail on the Interislander, pleasant voyage and I do love seeing the Marlborough Sounds. After safely disembarking from the ship we motored on down to Kaikoura to our hotel taking in a few scenic sites on route... briefly had lunch in Blenheim (Sorry Kev & Sarah didn't have time to stop and say hello). The weather wasn't fantastic, but the temp was good... the vineyards were just being covered for protection for the winter and the rivers were flowing fast. Before hitting Kaikura we pulled in at Oahu Point, a small cove just north of Kaikoura and view with awe the seals bathing apon the rocks with the young pups playing joyfully... along with the whales and dolphins it is magical to see these creatures in their natural habitat. Anyway 11am we set sail and with 2 metre swells, every kid on that boat bar mine threw up, but then again I not surprised as we watched everyone of them eating chocolate and drinking fizzy drinks whilst waiting for the coach to the boat!!! Well anyway in brief we saw two sperm whales and a pod of Hectors Dolphins, I enjoyed the doplhins more, but then again they do like performing to crowds... well here are a few piccies of our trip, I'm not the greatest photograph, but I think there good enough!!!!

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And more

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A few more...

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

thank you so much for posting these photos. We are off down to the SI in 2 weeks and top of our list in whale watching in kaikoura. I'm now adding Oahu Point!
It looked amazing :)

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

how long did it take you to do that trip, eg how many hours on the road? wondering whether it could be done with two toddlers...

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

Mate,that is fab. Ambition of mine too. Hope to do it soon,with our three, now that we're not relying on relatives to screw it up!

Welcome back all of you!

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

Cheers fella!!

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

Well it's 30mins to ferry, just over three hrs on the boat, and about 2 hrs drive straight down... certainly manageable as an overnight thing, bit too much for one day!

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

Great photo's.

I know what you mean about the 'swell' we went the weekend before you and most on board were ill.

We saw 3 sperm whales, but no dolphins, and it is well worth it.

Would be good to do it by air as you would get to see the whole whale and appreciate the size better. Maybe in a few years we'll go again.

Re: Kaikoura Trip
 

Great stuff!
The whales and dolphins really are an awesome sight.

And Kaikoura's so beautiful too.