Whalewatching in Kaikoura

Our last day in New Zealand was pretty typical of our trip - wake up, drive somewhere, do something cool, drive some more.

This time, we were driving to a whalewatching tour! We boarded the boat at around 10 AM and proceeded directly to where a whale had recently been sighted. It was a bumpy ride and felt a bit like a roller coaster - we could feel our stomachs drop after each big wave. Happily, no one got sick.

We pulled up to the where the first whale had surfaced just in time to see him dive down again. The whales go down to look for food for about 45 minutes and then come up for 5 to 15 minutes. Our timing was just off. So we quickly sped over to where the other whale in the area was last seen, and he surfaced as we pulled up.

I hate to say this, but the whales were actually kind of boring. I think it's because they are sperm whales, so almost none of them comes out of the water until they dive, which is when you get to see their tails. That part was really cool. Here's what the whale looked like when he was just hanging out and breathing:



And here's what he looked like when he dove:



After he dove, we drove back around to find the other whale again, who was due to surface. We watched him for awhile and then he dove again too.

We had hoped to see some dolphins too, but on the way back to the dock they told us that the main pod was too far away. However, we were lucky enough to stumble upon another pod of dolphins. We sat for about 10 minutes and watched them. They were so cool! They jumped up and did somersaults all over the place! There were at least fifty, probably more like 100. It was impossible to get a good photo of them, but I did manage to take one where you can actually tell it's a dolphin.



Then we were back in the dock. We returned to the campervan, and since we had a little extra time, we decided to look for the seal colony that was nearby. We found it, and were able to get really close!



There was another seal not too far away rolling around in the grass, which was neat. We didn't get too close though, because there were signs all over warning people that they bite if they feel threatened.

We drove back to Christchurch and returned the van. For our last night, we were staying in a pretty decent motel. It was strange to sleep indoors, be warm, and not rock the van every time you rolled over! It was like heaven. :) Here we are at dinner on our last night:



The next morning (yesterday, Wednesday for me and Tuesday for most of you), we got up and went to the airport to leave. I was really sad to see Rebecca go home and also to leave New Zealand, but it was a really wonderful trip and I couldn't have asked for it to be much better.