There She Blows...and a contest...

I've always wanted to visit Kaikoura in the South Island because of the whale watching. My husband wanted to visit because of the crayfish and other delicious seafood on offer. My man just loves his food. Luckily both our dreams came true!

Whale watching takes place in Kaikoura year round because the water is very deep just off shore - a deep sea trench (Hikorangi Trench) that's between 3000 - 6000 feet deep is full of squid and other delicacies and this attracts several species of whales. The whales we saw when we visited were Sperm whales.


We ended up seeing the whales from the air as well as by sea. Originally we'd planned to do the trips on different days but with bad weather on the way, we changed our plans and did both excursions on the same day. The weather was wonderful - sunny and clear - and we could see the snow clad mountains that surround Kaikoura clearly. First was the flight. We flew on the Cessna (shown above - note the handbag. It made me laugh when I saw it in the photo because it seemed out of place!). The flight was 35 minutes long but Sperm whales dive and stay down for up to 45 minutes then come back up to the surface to rest for around 5 - 10 minutes. We flew round and round and didn't see anything apart from the beautiful scenery. Luckily if there are no sightings the pilot flies for an extra ten minutes. Just when we'd given up hope five sperm whales popped up at the same time! From the air it's easier to see how big they are and you're able to see the whole whale. It was amazing.


In the afternoon we went out on a boat. As well as several sperm whales we saw Dusky dolphins playing and getting all amorous and also seals leaping from the water. We saw several different sea birds, one of which was an albatross.

The next day the weather closed in, covering all the mountains and the sea was much rougher. Several people were seasick when we went in good weather. I hate to think how the passengers coped with the rougher weather. My husband played golf and in the afternoon we visited a historic cottage and walked along the beach. We filled in our day quite nicely. Blogger won't let me post another photo of the dolphins so I'll post it on another day.

CONTEST:
I have a print copy of FOLLOW THAT DREAM (contemporary) to give away. All you need to do is post a comment and I'll choose a winner on Friday. Post away!