We set off slightly apprehensively on our latest adventure to the South Island due to the recent Christchurch earthquake and the subsequent multitude of aftershocks (at the last count over 700). To add to the 'high risk' factor involved, in the preceding few days, there was a massive landslide, due to all the torrential rain that we've been having, and the road from Christchurch to Kaikoura was blocked. Add to the mix the fact that the kiwi weather forecasters (who are always wrong, and even worse than english ones - they spend most of their bulletin explaining what the weather has been doing that day - er, we know, we were there! - rather than what it is going to do) were predicting 'the worst storm to ever hit New Zealand' we felt like we were flying into some kind of disaster zone!
Prepared for disaster...
There was then a sense of anti-climax when we touched down in Christchurch to blue skies and not a hint of destruction in sight! Never ones to run from danger, we decided to go and seek out some evidence of devestation and didn't have to travel far before we found some.
Our trusty steed
One of the towns worst affected by the earthquake was Kaipoi, just a short way outside of Christchurch. Some pictures below show how bad some of the damage was.
Babylon the Great has fallen...
Our next stop, after the obligatory picking up the hire car and supermarket stop!, was Kaikoura.
More earthquake damage
Landslide across the road and railway line on the way to Kaikoura
Kaikoura is a little town, about 180 kms north of Christchurch. It is famous for its whales and also its seal colonies. It is an absolutely beautiful little town because it has the coast on one side and the Seaward Kaikoura mountains on the other, which go right up to the coast. It actually means 'meal of crayfish' and is still known for it's allegedly cheap crayfish! (not that we managed to find any!)
At Ohau Point, just a few minutes outside of Kaikoura, there is a walk to a waterfall and at the bottom, in the pool, you can see all the baby seals play!
The seals get left on the shore by their mums and dads whilst they go off and hunt and rather than waiting where they are told swim up stream to this pool fed by a waterfall. Its really safe for them to play there and they seem very tame, naturally coming up to investigate the people – although be warned, they can have a nasty nip!!
The next day was the reason for our trip - whale watching!! Kaikoura is one of only 3 places in the world where just a kilometre from the shore the seabed drops away to 1800m. It's why the whales love it so much. They get whales all year round there - mostly sperm whales but also the occasional humpback, blue whale and orca passes through too.
At our holiday park - a beautiful day for whales
It was all very exciting, even though we arrived to see a sign saying that the warning levels for sea sickness were high. Looking over the sea, it looked like a mill pond so we thought that perhaps they being over cautious, so armed with our 'sea legs' tablets we intrepidly went off. The catamaran that we were on was itself quite small, seating about 40, and it was explained that while it was in motion we had to stay inside seated and then every time we stopped it would be fine to get out and have a look.
Look at that forced smile - starting to feel slightly queasy!
After about 10 minutes we found our place where we were hoping to see whales. However, by this time I should mention, the mill pond like sea had mysteriously developed a 3.5 metre swell and the over cautious warning of sea sickness was suddenly seeming more of a reality! Clinging precariously onto the side of the boat, with Katharine muttering darkly about lifejackets and high risk factors, we waited in expectation. Only to see…..NOTHING!
No, this isn't a shower attachment - it is a very high tech sonar device apparently
The boat moved around a couple of spots before we finally saw what we were waiting for - a spout of water! Cue mass excitement and people gingerly edging to the side of the boat, whilst gripping on to try and stay on their feet!
Due to the choppy seas our pictures probably don't totally do them justice but hopefully you can make out two large sperm whales (apparently it is quite unusual to see two together). They were a pretty amazing sight up close!
We also saw a leopard seal eating a skate - which are also very rare in that area and quite a lot birdlife - before disaster struck!
The swell had been getting steadily worse and almost since the beginning of the trip some girls by the side of us had been extremely vocally throwing up and finally my time had come!! All I can say, is that 1) it is possible to be sick into a bag quietly (Sarah G - you taught me this!!) 2) I wasn't the only one on the boat. Colin, sitting beside me, was able to reassure me as he moved my hair out of the way that most of the boat was puking and not to worry because he felt fine (which was obviously my chief concern!) and 3) whales became much less fascinating as the trip went on!!
Fortunately, we emerged unscathed, a little wobbly and hopefully slightly thinner (always has to be a bright side!) onto dry land a couple of hours later. I can safely announce that I’m not going on a boat trip again anytime soon!
After a very windy lunch overlooking the sea we continued on to Hanmer Springs.
Hanmer Springs is a little town about 1 1/2 hours from Kaikoura and is famous for its hot springs - which are there because of the cracked rockbed caused by the Hanmer fault. To be honest, it is a pretty little town but there isn't a whole lot to see other than the hot pools which are great to go and sit in. They are all different temperatures so you can find the one that suits you best - but it is a great way to warm up cold feet after running across cold ground! They are particularly great at night as you can see!
We also took advantage of the nice weather to go on a little jaunt into the mountains!
No sign of the worst ever storm to hit NZ
Finally, after two very relaxing days there, where we all became shrivelled like shrimps from spending too long in the pools, we headed back up to Christchurch to knuckle down to a slightly belated start of the service year in Auckland...
