Friday, we started the true vagabond stage of the trip. We went up to Amberley for two nights, did a wonderful hike up Mt. Grey, and stayed in a lovely B & B in sheep country. Yesterday, we went to the Pegasus Bay Winery for a beautiful lunch. There are many wineries near Amberley and this one served a fabulous lunch outside on their beautiful grounds. Midway through our meal, our B & B hosts arrived to deliver a sweater I had forgotten and joined us for coffee on the lawn. We then drove up to Kaikoura on the east coast, about 2 1/2 hrs north of Christchurch. It’s a beach-y, resort-y town, with a bit of a Cape Cod-y in the summer feel. Lots and lots of tourists. The mountains come right down to the Pacific, with big stretches of beach interspersed with rocky outcroppings in the water. We are staying in a cottage on the south bay, right on the water. We’ll be here 4 nights before heading south again.
Today, we drove north about 10 miles to an overlook above a NZ fur seal colony. There must have been 100-150 seals there, many of them pups. They were quite active, with the pups in particular meandering around the rocks like all children, moving for the sake of moving. Big males would periodically chase after another male, pups were still suckling on sunning mommas, and there were many swimming around in the seaweed. We hung around and ate our lunch, watching for an hour the free show down below. Then we drove 1/2 mile up to a 5 minute walk to a lovely waterfall and pool. Apparently from June – December, there can be up to 200 seal pups up there playing in the pool. They seem to congregate there while mom goes off fishing. I’m sorry we didn’t see it filled with pups. It would have been amazing.
After throwing a load of laundry in, we walked down to the beach for a “swim”. One of our neighbors in the next cottage said that the water would “wake us up – fresh from Antarctica!” The “beach” was very weird. The “sand” was comprised of little round, flattened black stones. It was literally like walking through lentils two feet deep. You sunk up to your ankles. Spencer managed to take two very quick dunks in the water while I watched from the lentils above. The view is wonderful but that water is VERY cold.
We’ve been invited by the owner of the cottages to go cray fishing with him tomorrow morning. What they call crayfish are much more like our Maine lobsters, but without the big claws. We will head off in his little boat tomorrow to pull up traps and collect crayfish, assuming the weather is good. And he said we could also take some time and go see more seals. Hopefully it won’t be too windy. We’ll then take a hike around the perimeter of the peninsula. Wednesday we are scheduled to go whale watching. There is apparently a deep cold ocean trench near here that attracts all sorts of sea life. There are whales here year round, many types of dolphins, birds, etc. You can do swims with dolphins or seals, whale watch from boat or air, do guided stargazing at night, as well as fishing and many other activities. It’s quite the place for viewing wildlife.
Well, time to get some dinner going. Hope all is well in Colorado and that the weather has warmed a bit.
Barb
Ohau Seal Colony
Seal pup
Mom
Nursing pup. The white on the mothers belly is milk. This was really cool
There was a protected pool where a bunch of pups had gathered to play and learn to swim.
Young male.