Kaikoura

Kaikoura, New Zealand, is a great little place. It's not very large at all- you can cover the entire town on foot in under 15 minutes. That's of course, provided you don't stop in any of the souvenir shops, but then no-one comes here for the shopping.

Seagulls near the coast

Kaikoura ('kye-koe-ra'), which is Maori for 'a place for eating crayfish', is located on the eastern coast of the South Island, about one and a half hours from Christchurch. I would consider it a must-see on a visit to New Zealand, both for its amazing landscape and its wildlife.

No, this isn't a scene from 'The Birds'.

The coastline is dramatic- craggy and rocky and backed by snow-capped mountains. But that's only what we see on the surface. Things start to get really exciting about 1.5 kilometres offshore. That's when the bottom of the sea plunges to a depth of 2kms and where the undersea Kaikoura Canyon begins.

And what happens when the sea gets really, really deep? We get to see whales:

© Whale Watch Kaikoura.

I signed up for a tour with Whale Watch Kaikoura the same day I arrived. Whale Watch conducts marine-based tours via catamaran. The company says it has a 95% success rate, which means that they very rarely don't get to see whales on a tour, so you're almost guaranteed a chance of seeing either sperm whales, orca (which are actually dolphins), humpback whales or even blue whales, depending on the time of year. I went in winter and managed to see three sperm whales in one day.

Whale Watch isn't your only option- World of Whales conducts helicopter tours, which means that just like what their website says, you get to see the whole whale from above, head to tail. The benefit of taking a heli tour also means that you don't miss out on the incredible scenery around you.

 © Whale Watch Kaikoura.

Although all you get to see with Whale Watch is a giant fluke and a dark floating mass, the company is reputed to be the most popular whale-watching tour operator in Kaikoura, and I tend to agree with the majority. It must be amazing to look at a whale from above but when you're that far up, the experience could be a little detached from what's happening down below.

The crew on the Whale Watch catamaran uses hydrophones to listen out for sounds made by the whales. In a way, this method detects the whales long before they come to the surface to breathe, allowing the captain ample time to speed up and head for the location of the sound. I'll never forget that moment when the crew detected our first sperm whale for the day - the guide turned up the volume on the hydrophones and a weird clicking noise filled the boat. There's no way I would've heard that if I'd chosen the helicopter tour.

Whales weren't the only animals here I encountered up close. The following day, I went seal kayaking (ie. kayaking to a seal colony) with Kaikoura Kayaks. This ended up being one of the best things I did on that trip. I rowed out with my guide Matt to the Kaikoura Peninsula and saw quite a large colony of big fat seals. One of them was rolling in ecstasy in strips of thick kelp and ignored us completely. It's not easy taking photographs in a kayak but we came across this big guy sunbathing on his rock:

But no, that's not the end of my story. I was rowing leisurely on our way back after leaving the seal colony when Matt, who had been staring straight ahead, suddenly cried out and told me to row as fast as I could. "I can see dolphins! Quick!" he shouted.

And so I rowed until my arms ached and felt like they would fall off. We caught up with the dolphins but I couldn't tell how many of them there were; counting them was impossible. Their movements were as fluid as silk, yet super fast.

The dolphins were on both sides of our kayak, jumping in and out of the water. I couldn't believe what was happening. We were actually racing with a pod of dolphins. We were so close to them, I could hear the sound of air being expelled out of their blowholes.

"I don't want to hit them with my paddle," I said, my voice shaking with excitement.

"You won't, they're very fast, they'll avoid it," said Matt.

We rowed as fast as we could and raced with them for another few minutes, but they beat us eventually and disappeared into the distance.

I only managed to snap a few blurry photos of the dolphins swimming next to us. This is one of them:

These guys were too fast for me.There's a faint shadow of another one, underwater, closer to the kayak

Well, we all know what people say about blurry photos.....it's just another excuse to go again.

For more info, contact: 

Whale Watch Kaikoura,

PO Box 89, Kaikoura

New Zealand

res@whalewatch.co.nz 
t +64 3 319 6767
f +64 3 319 6545

Kaikoura Kayaks

19 Killarney

Kaikoura

New Zealand

Free Phone: 0800 452 456

Phone: +64 21 462 889

Fax: +64 3 319 7218

Email: paddle@kaikourakayaks.co.nz

100% Pure

I haven't been to very many countries but of all the places I've been to, my all-round favourite has to be New Zealand. If I were to migrate, it would probably be to NZ, that boot-shaped country at the corner of the world.

I love the sense of humour which New Zealanders have. They can laugh at themselves and the fact that there are more sheep and cattle than human beings - 32 million sheep and 5.8m cows compared to 4.3m people.  Add the incredible variety in landscapes and that's enough for me. And what's not to love about a bunch of people who made bungy jumping famous? I've been to New Zealand three times already and I don't think I'm done.

This was the route I took the last time I was there:

I started in Christchurch in the South Island and worked my way through the country via public transport. I hate package tours, so I took trains and buses plus a connecting ferry to the North Island. I then went on until I reached Auckland, which is where I flew out from a month later.

The wonderful thing about the country is how tourist-friendly it is, particularly for backpackers. I planned the entire trip myself which, honestly speaking, isn't difficult to do in New Zealand. If you're travelling independently, have a look at Travelpass and Kiwi Experience for bus passes throughout the country. These options allow you hop on and off your bus along your preselected route, within the validity period of your respective pass. Another is Magic Bus, where you can combine bus travel and hostel stays. If you're still confused, click here for a list of bus passes.

When I was there, I used the Best of NZ Pass which allowed me to travel by train, ferry and coach. Unfortunately this pass doesn't exist anymore and has since been replaced by The TranzScenic Rail Pass which, like its name suggests, connects you to its rail network. New Zealand has some lovely train journeys like the TranzAlpine (Christchurch-Greymouth), TranzCoastal (Christchurch-Picton) and Overlander (Wellington-Auckland). I'm not entirely sure why they got rid of the Best of NZ Pass because I can't imagine it not being popular.

If you're looking for a place to sleep, I would recommend BBH World Traveller Accommodation. The BBH Club Card gives you discounts in over 300 hostels and guesthouses, but what I really liked was the NZ$20 prepaid phone card which was included in the deal, which I used to make train and bus bookings for onward journeys. There are other accommodation options, of course,  but I wouldn't be able to comment on them.

Some photos I took along the way, taken from the many trains and buses I rode on:

The Taieri Gorge Railway from Dunedin to Queenstown

On the way to Queenstown

You can't have a post about New Zealand without sheep. Gotta have the sheep! Taken on the way to Te Anau

Punakaiki, on the way to Picton for the North Island ferry

Taken soon after leaving Rotorua, on the way to Taupo. Absolutely gorgeous.

More on New Zealand after this. Have a good week ahead!

Spin cycle

It all started with a push.

"Are you ready?" the guy asked. I gave him the thumbs-up. With that, he pushed me down the hill, a big grin on his face.

As I rolled down, all I could see were colours. Everything went round and round. Green grass, then blue sky. Green, blue, green, blue, over and over again.

First I was on my feet, then I was upside down. Up, then upside down again. Ice-cold water was getting into my eyes and stinging my nose.

It sounds painful, but it wasn't. Far from it. I was rolling down a hill in Rotorua, New Zealand, in a 'zorb' - a three-metre sphere made of transparent PVC.

Not only that, a bucketful of cold water had been emptied in the zorb as well, so it was like being in a washing machine.

Of course, before the water is poured in, you're given a choice.  "Do you want to run dry like a hamster or do your clothes need washing?" I was asked.

"They need washing," I replied.

As the water sloshed and swept all over me, I thought, "Okay, so this is what it's like to be a t-shirt in a spin cycle."

It never surprised me that New Zealanders had created the zorb. After all, they made bungy jumping famous and created canyon swinging, which is where you ride the world's highest swing, 109 metres above a canyon floor.

Created by Kiwi brothers David and Andrew Akers and scientist Dwayne van der Sluis, the zorb is designed to be both comfortable and safe. Every zorb has an inner shell which you stand in to prevent you from being thrown about.  A half-a-metre thick air cushion which separates the inner and outer shell protects you like how bubble wrap would.

The thing about zorbing is that there isn't any point in being pushed down a hill in a big plastic ball. But that's exactly it - like painting your toe-nails blue, there is no point. Just a wish to have plain, crazy fun.

So what happens when you reach the bottom of the hill, all drenched? You could come out hating the experience, wishing that you'd never done it. Or you could come out laughing from the zorb like I did, thoroughly glad that you tried it.       

That was in June 2003. I'd just quit my job and wanted to go somewhere I would never forget and always love and even before I resigned, deep down I knew that that somewhere would be New Zealand.

New Zealand has always been special for my family. My parents met and fell in love in Auckland and when my brothers and I were still quite young, they took us to NZ for a holiday. We were only children then, but we could already appreciate the beauty of its lakes, glaciers and fjords.

So when I was old enough to travel on my own, it was only natural for me to decide that New Zealand would be the perfect place to celebrate my career change. After I managed to save some money after working for a few years, I bought a plane ticket and never looked back.

One of the cities I dropped by on my trip  in 2003 was Christchurch, which was hit by an earthquake on February 22 this year. My heart ached when I read the news and saw the names of the same streets I once walked on all those years ago.

Tourism is important to New Zealand, and they need you to visit them. Some of my fondest memories were forged there- I kayaked alongside dolphins off the Kaikoura coast, I saw little hobbit houses and even walked into the set of the 'Lord of the Rings' once.

This is my contribution for Blog 4NZ. New Zealand is open for business, so do go there. You won't regret it.

Hit by a fluke

It was the strangest backpackers' hostel I'd ever seen. Everyone was in their 60s. None of the usual scruffy, young types I could relate to and have meaningful conversations with. 

The music playing in the bar - which doubled as the office - sounded like what my granddad used to listen to. A man was nodding his head sleepily in time with the music. A withered old lady stopped me at the door: "Are you lost, my darling?" 

This was my hostel in Kaikoura, New Zealand. The only reason I had chosen it was that the price and its location on the coast were right. 

My room had a sink, a dresser and a closet. It also had a hideous red bedspread with bright pink flowers. It was late and I was tired, so I decided to stay anyway.

Kaikoura isn't big, a brisk walk will take you across town in 15 minutes. All the usual facilities - a post office, Internet cafes, more youth hostels, an information centre, souvenir shops, restaurants and the ubiquitous Chinese takeaway - are on West End Parade. 

My first visit to Kaikoura was when I was in secondary school, on a drive through the South Island. We passed by a diving shop with a beautiful blue whale painted on the outside and I couldn't take my eyes off it. When I found out that whales were often seen in the area, I knew I had to come back one day. 

It took me half an hour to walk to the whale watching company, which was a little out of town. There was no sign of a storm, which was a relief.  "We won't sail if the weather looks bad," the booking clerk had told me the day before. 

Our boat was called the Wheketere which means 'giant squid' in Maori. A bit ominous, since whales love to eat giant squid. 

We sailed from South Bay in extremely choppy waters until we reached the edge of a massive undersea canyon. "We're talking about a valley 2 kms deep, guys," our guide said. 

"There's a lot of movement out there but we're going to wait until we get a clear signal on the hydrophones."

That didn't take very long because within a few minutes, we heard clicking noises on the speakers- there was a whale up ahead. 

We picked up speed immediately. The captain, who was young and clean-shaven and didn't look anything like an old sea dog, steered the boat with his back to us. He had no idea what was going on behind him. 

Passengers were getting horribly seasick. Some had gotten up to use the bathroom, others were throwing up in their seasick bags, filling the air with the stench of vomit. I'd been on a boat dozens of times before and never gotten sick but holding back on that day was impossible. Soon I was grabbing my paper bag and rushing to the bathroom like everyone else.

Soon after, the boat slowed down next to a large, dark-coloured mass floating on our right. All the passengers, who seemed to have miraculously recovered, leaned over the railings with their cameras. 

A sperm whale had come up for air, its head and part of the dorsal hump visible. Suddenly a water spout shot  up through its blowhole, completely without warning. A little girl next to me squealed and clapped her hands.

The whale stayed still for about 10 minutes then it slowly began to move. 

Cameras flashed all around me as its body arched forward and prepared to dive. The whale's ridged back disappeared into the water slowly, then in one breathtaking, fluid movement, up came the tail then it, too, vanished into the depths. It hit me later that night that it had happened all too quickly. It was like watching a favourite moment in slow motion- beautiful, but never enough.

We saw two other whales that day, including one which was so familiar to the crew that they'd named it 'White Spot' after the mark at the keel, or base of its tail. As if it knew we are watching, White Spot paused for a few moments and flicked its tail before it plunged into the sea.

Strangely though, something was missing that day. All I'd seen was a large bump and a giant tail. There was no dramatic breach by a killer whale, no humpback song on the hydrophones. Maybe that was for next time. 

Four days later, it was time for me to leave Kaikoura and move on. I went to the bar/office/general hang-out place to hand over my room keys. I'd never seen this barman before- he was in his 30s. Much younger than anyone else I'd seen at the hostel. 

"Hi, I'm checking out, I had Room 8," I told him.

"Well now, aren't you a lucky devil, eh," he laughed. I told him how much I enjoyed my stay. 

"Did you see the whales?" he asked. 

"I did... saw three of them in fact. Saw some dolphins as well." 

"That's brilliant. Thinking of staying with us again?" he asked eagerly. 

I know I had to; I hadn't seen enough of the whales. Then I remembered the awful pink bedspread. 

"Maybe another room."