Kaikoura - Dolphins, Seals and Wine!

At the bottom at the mountain range
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We had hired another car, this time a smaller one, a Toyota Corolla to take us up to Kaikoura. We needed a break from Christchurch as there isn't really a lot to do there and we felt we needed to make the most of our time in NZ.

After a really good drive up there (it was about 2-3 hours North of Christchurch but was packed full of windy mountain roads and amazing views) we arrived in the small town. Paul and Natalie had already booked themselves onto a swimming-with-dolphins outing so the first thing was to drop them off there. Meanwhile George and I looked for stuff to do. We passed time by first playing crazy golf but then headed into the mountains and walked a track up Mount Fyfee. That passed some time, but not really enough. The info centre told us it would take an hour to walk...we did in in 15 minutes so we went back and did it again. The mountain range there was fantastic and it was the first time i had seen a snow capped mountain.

Posted by Adam

Kaikoura Vinyard and our bikes for the day!
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We drove back to pick up the others and then checked in to our hostel, The Dusky Lodge. It was a real homely place; log fires, arm chairs and a huge video library. Best of all though was the Jacuzzi out the back! We spent most of the night in the Jacuzzi, thinking how hard life is while relaxing with a few bottles of wine.

The following day we hired some bikes and went for a bit of a cycle. There is a seal colony at the peak of the Kaikoura Peninsular so we headed there first. There were signs everywhere telling us to keep our distance from the Seals but that doesnt help our photo needs so we tried our luck by getting close to a couple right next to the beach. After a couple of photos and a few startled Seals we got scared and thought it would be best to leave them alone! We then carried on further down the rocky beach to see if we could see some more. There were two right in our path so we stopped and took photos but wanted to carry on walking. George wasn't a great fan of this idea and exercised great caution while walking just metres away from one of the New Zealand Fur Seals. We didn't have any further luck though so we headed back, once again past the seal that was going to eat George! We also climbed the 'walkway' to the top of the cliff to gain a better view of the surrounding area and hopefully catch a glimpse of a Whale. We had no so luck though.

Next to a Fur seal at the colony
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While cycling back from the colony we decided to take a diversion and go via the local Winery. It was only about 15 minutes cycle away and luckily mostly downhill. Once at the Winery, The Kaikoura Winery, we booked onto a tour of the place and of course, the wine tasting. Ten wines later we were a bit peckish so we sat down to some wine and cheese and were soon on our way, albeit a bit more unstable than before.

We cycled back in the rain, back up the hill we found so easy on the way there but it was all worth it when we got back into the Jacuzzi at the hostel. Paul and I called it an early night and were in bed at half 8 while Natalie and George stayed up longer. A successful day of exercise and wine drinking was had by all but it was to be our last day there as we left the following morning to head back to Christchurch to meet up with the guys.

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