Sooo Many Seals!

Sunday 7 June

Winter feels like autumn in Kaikōura right now - a golden morning at north wharf and blue skies over Ingles Bay.

We love staying at The Pier Hotel POP, especially when we get a front row spot - great views, toilets & shower available, power option, water, rubbish & recycling facilities and The Pier Hotel right next door! And it's obviously a classy clientele judging by the whole crayfish I saw dumped in the rubbish bin - those babies are super expensive.

A clear sunny morning after the previous grey & wet day so we took advantage of the glorious weather and set off to walk the Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway from the northern end. Started by climbing up the zigzag pathway then walked along the top of the cliffs until almost where we had reached the day before.

The views from the clifftops of the peninsula were fabulous and even from up there we could see there were hundreds, if not thousands of seals on the uplifted rocks below and playing in the rockpools and inlets.

The birdlife was pretty cool too - besides the ubiquitous gulls we saw about half a dozen Hurukōwhai (yellowhammers) up by the cow paddocks, matuku moana (white faced heron) cruising the kelp beds and rocks, some snoozing torea pango (oyster catchers) & pūtangitangi (honk wahs) - the latter having a lovely bath in the rock pools.

We found the stairs and pathway down to the shoreline and descended carefully as it was a bit steep & slippery in places. I found a bone which created a lovely heart image - I guess it is a spinal disc but I am not sure who it originally belonged to. The rocks along here have been uplifted from the sea bed over time and during quakes - some just pushed up flat above sea level and other crushed up at an angle like the mini landsape in the pool below.

Once back down at sea level we were amazed at the vast number of kekeno (fur seals) -lazing on the rocks, the beaches, in the grassland and primarily the pups swimming in the shallow sea & rock pools. Some were undiscerning and just sprawled on the rocks, others chose mattresses of kelp or grass tussocks, and one was even lying along a piece of driftwood. One pair of pups was arguing over who got to settle on the rock beside a bush, and continued squabbling even when they both fell off the rock! Another looked startled when it saw us approaching and quickly slithered into the sea and tried, unconvincingly, to hide under a rock shelf!

The signs said we should avoid upsetting the seals and instructed us to be no closer than the 10m - which is pretty hard when there are seals on the beach, the path & up on the grass! The other rule is not to come between the seals and the sea, but when they are up in the grass and bushes along the base of the cliffs, it's hard to follow this rule so we skedaddled by quickly, keeping an eye to check that they weren't going to chase us. Mostly they were too chill with their snoozing and yoga stretching and scratching to bother with us.

We spent ages watching the seals & pups - especially those playing in the shallows by a beach. Some seemed to stop & check us out too! Some were doing zoomies through the water, some were rolling and lolling about, a few came into shore and gave me a good hard stare, and generally they appeared to be having a lovely time. When they were tired, the rocks were a great space to hang out… like a seal youth club on a Friday night! ❤️🦭

After late lunch back at Banjo we got the bikes down and cycled through town to meet Sarah & Marcel from Gallichan Truck Life Nz, where BEAST was parked up on Sarah’s mum’s farm. Their truck really does live up to its name - it is absolutely enormous!

They live in it full time with their three kids and Sarah homeschools them while Marcel is out working. Amazing family!

Cycled back in the sunshine but with a cooling breeze. Quick shower after the morning walk and afternoon cycle ride so we could look & smell our best for dinner at The Pier Hotel - deeelicious! We both chose the fabulous hog roast, then against our better judgment, had a dessert each - sticky date pudding for Louis & crème brûlée for me… yum!