Wellington to Whale-watching

Wellington to Whale-watching

17th February 2011

We left Turangi on Tuesday morning and drove to Wellington. Strange and varied scenery on the way with moonscapes, mountains and arable land. Arrived at Wellington around 1pm, found the ferry terminal and booked a ticket for the next day but alas could not find a Hotel anywhere. This was because Aussie PM Julie Gillard was on a visit so everywhere was fully booked. We drove out to the suburbs through an underpass and found what was said to be a last resort hotel, but actually it was fine and run by a Chinese family. We bought a bottle of wine from Woolworths and ate Chinese at the hotel.

Up for an early start and the first real crisis of the holiday. The car would not start. After driving through an underpass the previous day during our hotel hunt Roz had turned on the lights and forgotten to turn them off so the battery was flat!!! Concerned we would miss our early ferry we rang the AA who said it would take an hour to arrive . Luckily a nice Chinese man helped us out with his jump leads so off we went but it was now the rush hour. Made the ferry just in time. Phew!

We breakfasted on board as we sailed across the Cook Straight between the North and South Islands. It was very scenic especially the last part when we came up Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton. Drove South to the Malborough wine country, famous for Savignon Blanc and stopped at a winery for lunch. Tasted a little wine but could only have one glass as driving. On to Kaikoura. Spectacular scenery with mountains on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Kiakoura is a seaside town famous for whale watching and crayfish, (local lobster). Our Motel looks over the bay to the mountains. We booked a whale trip and ate crayfish for dinner.

This morning we went to the seal colony and saw New Zealand fur seals basking in the sun and galumphing lugubriously across the beach. Of course they are extremely agile in the water. Then we went whale watching. We saw two great big sperm whales spouting and finally lashing up with their tails as they dived to the depths of the ocean. Then there was a drama. A killer whale calf had got entangled in some fishing gear. We watched the other members of his pod swimming round and round, they swam and leapt four or five abreast showing their black and white markings. Eventually a boat from the Department of conservation came and was able to cut the baby whale free! Big cheers from the boat as baby swam off with family. Also saw some dolphins. Weather lovely and hot with clear blue skies. We are going star gazing this evening to look for the Southern Cross.