Road Trip - Kaikoura (twice)

Grey skies over Kaikoura on our first visit.
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We arrived in Kaikoura late on New Year's Day. The small town is supposed to be in one of the most picturesque landscapes in NZ. However, all we could see was a low grey cloud cover and a rough sea.

The following morning we awoke at 6:30am to grey skies. The plan was to go on a Whale watching tour at 7:15, but on arrival at the offices were told that all trips that day were cancelled due to rough seas. We were both dissapointed and a little annoyed with the so called summer that seems to offer no more than one sunny day a week at the moment. Since we now had nothing to do with the day we got in the car and decided to head slowly back towards Christchurch. We stoped several times including the scenic Gore Bay, eventually returning to Christchurch mid afternoon.

A sunny day in Sumner. If you look closely Christchurch city centre and snow capped peaks of the Southern Alps can be seen in the background.
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Over the next week or so we stayed in Christchurch, occasionally visiting the beach at either Sumner or New Brighton when the weather permitted.

On the 18th we decided to return to Kaikoura, this time on a coach. We arrived mid-morning into what seemed like a completely different town. The sun was shining and we could see clearly Mt. Fyffe, overlooking the bay. This time we were able to go Whale watching, although the sea was still far from being calm. Kaikoura is one of only a few places in the world where Whales can be seen all year round, the ocean gets deep very quickly just off the coast and the town seems to survive off the tourism generated by the wealth of Whales and Dolphins that can be found here. It was a great experience to see huge 18 metre long Whales up close and well worth the return trip. It was even worth the sea sickness that we both had to endure throughout the boat ride.

Mt. Fyffe from Kaikoura beach (second visit).
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J.