Saturday 21 April 2012

Kaikoura And Playing With Seals

We have no plans and no clue - about what where doing and where we are going on the south island; so to get a tip off from a guy about heading to Kaikoura - this was a God send, otherwise we would have missed this little gem!

About 3 hours south east of the ferry crossing we start to hit huge snow-capped mountains just like in Lord Of The Rings. I was in awe as I never thought I would actually see anything like it in my life; but better things were to come.
We hit the coast with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, and then I see it! A fin in the water swimming around- my thoughts – shit there’s sharks! We stopped the car and upon closer inspection realised there were no sharks but a whole colony of seals on the rocks and playing in the water, it was incredible.
We reached Kaikoura around an hour later and where not disappointed. A stunningly beautiful tiny little town nestled between the huge mountains and the sea, with an incredible pebble beach where the seals come to sunbathe! Sound like nirvana to you?
When in Kaikoura you are faced with a difficult decision (unless of course you are rich), do you go whale watching or swimming with the seals. I chose the seals, because they’re so CUTE!
You essentially dress up in a wetsuit so you look kind of like a seal (shark food) and go swimming in a colony of seals (shark food). Not sure if you can tell but I’m an itsy bit scared of sharks!
For ages the seals didn’t come in occasionally the babies did, but a bunch of dolphins came over to say hello and we saw an albatross the experience was immense.
I have not heard of anywhere else in the world that you can go swimming with seals and I seriously recommend it; it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.



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