Flew in style to Christchurch with Emirates from Sydney. Good bye horrible job!
Was greeted at the airport by my friend from canoe club amy. Shes on an exchange. We went out for drinks n food before she returned to revision.
I stayed at jailhouse which was an old prison. Pretty cool atmosphere, expensive though! 30! Gor 10 bed. I had to leave at 5 am for kaikoura. Nothing miuch left seeing in Christchurch since the earthquake flattened the city.
Got the 7am bus to kaikoura.
Stunning scenery everywhere your on the set for Lord of the rings! Being on a coach is good for photo taking and sleeping. I did take my pillow :)
Arrived at fish tank hostel at 10am. I dumped my stuff and set off for the seal colony! Its around an hours nwalk to the peninsula. This sleepy town was once a whale oil port. Luckily its given over to tourism. Still has signs about the history of the whaling and the house made of their bones still exists. I went in may so it was a pleasant 16ish degrees out. It was so peaceful to walk around the bay with the mountains in the background.
Reaching the seals was an awesome reward. I found some babies playing in the estuary! So cute. Then hundreds of adults lounging on rocks next to the road. Grey nomads in their motorhomes had pulled up for a scenic lunch stop.
I walked up the hill for a better view point and found a beach hut serving fresh wild salmon and other seafood for a great price! I had a salmon n salad for 9 dollars. Cant get it in the supermarket for that.
Fish tank is a great hostel, the most comfortable bed ever! It was quite quiet, I had the room to myself! In a six bed dorm. I made a friend called dave and we went and played pool.
Very pleased to see the naked bus turn up right outside the hostel at 10am the next day.
Very sad to only stay here the one night, as there is so much to do. For example, sea swimming, dolphin encounter s, and whale watching. Even sea fishing! All these activities were a bit out my prize range at 160ish dollars, ive already been whale watching in oz. I also previously had an amazing experience swimming with dolphins in florida, so I thought id save the cash. I have heard great things about them from fellow travellers so well worth doing if you have money :)
