We were up and out of the hostel early on Thursday, heading to our next destination of Kaikoura on the East Coast. After a couple of hours driving along the North Coast we reached the town of Blenheim which is situated at the far east of the South Island. The town itself is situated on flat plains and is surrounded by vineyards. We were in the region of Marlborough, famous for it's world class wine production and we could not resist stopping in at the
Villa Maria vineyard where we enjoyed a tasting of many of their wines. We were lucky to try some of the reserve whites and reds that you cannot buy outside of New Zealand, including a tasting of their award winning pinot noir which is rated as the best in New Zealand.... naturally Ash snapped up a bottle, for a special occasion he reckons!!!! With Bi slightly cross-eyed after the excellent and plentiful tasting (and falling asleep in the passenger seat!) we drove a few kms east for a tasting at the enormous Montana estate which is the biggest winery in New Zealand. We tried several different wines but after the wines at Villa Maria they tasted decidely average and so we left empty handed. The credit card was very thankful!
With the weather worsening we hopped back in our car and drove south along the beautiful Kaikoura coast towards the town of Kaikoura. The coastline was rugged and stunning and the driving rain and heavy clouds made it even more atmospheric. Along the twisty road there were a numbe
r of small huts selling locally caught crayfish.
Unable to resist temptation any longer, Ash pulled over and bought himself a whole cooked crayfish which he sat eating outside in a spot overlooking the coast.... it was perfect! Bi disagreed and stuck to the safety of her cheese and pickle sandwich! Shortly before arriving in Kaikoura we pulled over by the roadside to look down on a seal colony at Ohau Bay. The seals were floating around in the raging water and basking on the rocks as if it were a lovely summers day! We arrived in the small town of Kaikoura in the late afternoon. The town has a special location along the coast where upswellings from a 1,100m deep trench in the sea brings an abundance of marine life close to the surface, making the whole area very popular with whales (and tourists!). We booked ourselves passage onto a whale-watching cruise for the following morning then found a nice, old, homely hostel for the night.
Not being ones to let the bad weather stop us, we went for walk up and along the Ka
ikoura peninsula which afforded nice views out over the coast and the town. On a clear day we would have been able to see the many snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps and as far as the North Island. We finished our walk with a hot flask of tea and some cake out in the cold, before heading back to our hostel and the log fire for the evening.
We were up at 6am on Friday morning and after another hearty breakfast drove the short distance to join our whale watching tour. Amazingly, the weather had completely cleared and there was not a cloud in the sky. We were taken by bus across to the other side of the peninsula before boarding a large catamaran which took us out past the peninsula into the bay, right over the 1,100m deep trench. The crew searched for the whales through a combination of pure experience and hydro
phonics by lowering a special device overboard that picked up the whale's sonar and helped pinpoint their position. Very quickly we found our first sperm whale bobbing on the surface and blowing spray into the air which was a magnificent sight. After 5 minutes of watching the whale it dived, fluking it's tail into the air and Ash managed to capture it perfectly with the mountainous backdrop behind. We cruised further out to sea and saw another sperm whale up for air before it dived to the depths to feed. They really are majestic creatures and the sightings that we had in Kaikoura were better than th
ose we had in Antarctica. We headed in shore to see some seals basking in the sun and giant petrels and albatrosses bobbing on the water. Apparently 80% of the world's seabirds can be found in Kaikoura. We headed back in shore where we stopped for our customary flask of tea and cake before heading off for our journey across the mountains to the opposite side of the island.
Villa Maria vineyard where we enjoyed a tasting of many of their wines. We were lucky to try some of the reserve whites and reds that you cannot buy outside of New Zealand, including a tasting of their award winning pinot noir which is rated as the best in New Zealand.... naturally Ash snapped up a bottle, for a special occasion he reckons!!!! With Bi slightly cross-eyed after the excellent and plentiful tasting (and falling asleep in the passenger seat!) we drove a few kms east for a tasting at the enormous Montana estate which is the biggest winery in New Zealand. We tried several different wines but after the wines at Villa Maria they tasted decidely average and so we left empty handed. The credit card was very thankful!
With the weather worsening we hopped back in our car and drove south along the beautiful Kaikoura coast towards the town of Kaikoura. The coastline was rugged and stunning and the driving rain and heavy clouds made it even more atmospheric. Along the twisty road there were a number of small huts selling locally caught crayfish. 
Unable to resist temptation any longer, Ash pulled over and bought himself a whole cooked crayfish which he sat eating outside in a spot overlooking the coast.... it was perfect! Bi disagreed and stuck to the safety of her cheese and pickle sandwich! Shortly before arriving in Kaikoura we pulled over by the roadside to look down on a seal colony at Ohau Bay. The seals were floating around in the raging water and basking on the rocks as if it were a lovely summers day! We arrived in the small town of Kaikoura in the late afternoon. The town has a special location along the coast where upswellings from a 1,100m deep trench in the sea brings an abundance of marine life close to the surface, making the whole area very popular with whales (and tourists!). We booked ourselves passage onto a whale-watching cruise for the following morning then found a nice, old, homely hostel for the night. 
Not being ones to let the bad weather stop us, we went for walk up and along the Kaikoura peninsula which afforded nice views out over the coast and the town. On a clear day we would have been able to see the many snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps and as far as the North Island. We finished our walk with a hot flask of tea and some cake out in the cold, before heading back to our hostel and the log fire for the evening.
We were up at 6am on Friday morning and after another hearty breakfast drove the short distance to join our whale watching tour. Amazingly, the weather had completely cleared and there was not a cloud in the sky. We were taken by bus across to the other side of the peninsula before boarding a large catamaran which took us out past the peninsula into the bay, right over the 1,100m deep trench. The crew searched for the whales through a combination of pure experience and hydro
phonics by lowering a special device overboard that picked up the whale's sonar and helped pinpoint their position. Very quickly we found our first sperm whale bobbing on the surface and blowing spray into the air which was a magnificent sight. After 5 minutes of watching the whale it dived, fluking it's tail into the air and Ash managed to capture it perfectly with the mountainous backdrop behind. We cruised further out to sea and saw another sperm whale up for air before it dived to the depths to feed. They really are majestic creatures and the sightings that we had in Kaikoura were better than th
ose we had in Antarctica. We headed in shore to see some seals basking in the sun and giant petrels and albatrosses bobbing on the water. Apparently 80% of the world's seabirds can be found in Kaikoura. We headed back in shore where we stopped for our customary flask of tea and cake before heading off for our journey across the mountains to the opposite side of the island.
