Swimming with seals in Kaikoura?

The road from Picton to Kaikoura is supposed to be one of the most scenic in the country. We may have seen too many coastal roads at this point to really enjoy it. Not to mention that we were hungry when we reached the scenic part, and not finding a place to stop for lunch didn't help. K even fell asleep as we were driving by. So instead we went right to the camping where we would spend two nights. The weather seemed good and warm enough to sleep in the tent again.

On the way to Kaikoura

Among other things, Kaikoura is known for being a good place to swim with dolphins and seals. After some thinking we had chosen to book a swim with seals for the next day and so, after lunch, we went to the shop to check how the swim conditions would be. The look on the employee's face was rather disheartening. She explained that the sea conditions had been bad during the last few days and the forecast wasn't getting any better. We should try to call them the next morning to know if there was any chance to go out for a swim.

To give us some comfort we went to check out the seal colony at the end of town. It wouldn't give us more chances to swim with them the next day but at least we had some fun watching them sleep, swim and stretch a little. From the colony you also get a spectacular view of the town, the bay, and the mountainous Kaikoura range on the background.

Later in the afternoon, with the air becoming chillier, we knew what to do: it was hot tub time! The camping offers two small hot pools, and we wouldn't miss the chance. The temperature was perfect, the view over the mountains was beautiful. We forgot for a while our worries about the swim with seals being cancelled.

Life looks better from a hot tub

After a shower and delicious barbecued dinner we were ready to sleep in the tent, or so we thought... The night turned out to be colder than expected, and we felt it even wearing most of our clothes, mummifying ourselves in the sleeping bags and using an extra blanket on top. It was a rather hard night. We got up very early and went to the kitchen area to enjoy a steaming hot tea and defrost our hands. Another couple, also sleeping in a tent, joined us soon. I guess that we weren't the only ones who suffered through the night.

To make things worse, they cancelled our swim with the seals, with a vague promise to make it the next day. We knew that it wouldn't happen. We went back to the seal colony and spent some time there, enjoying the sun and the spectacular views. On our way back we stopped for lunch at a place along the road for hot chowder soup with buttered toast and green mussels on the side. It doesn't replace swimming with seals but it made us feel a bit better anyway.

Not fancy, but delicious

Green-lip mussels. Yummy!

Crazily enough we decided to endure one more night in the tent, officially our last night camping in New Zealand. Some time in the hot tub helped us prepare for the cold night ahead. In any case before going to sleep we made sure to book a bedroom at a nice hostel in Akaroa for the next day. After two nights sleeping over the cold ground we desperately wanted a proper bed in a well heated room. Fortunately the night wasn't as cold as the one before, and apart some muscular problems in my leg (am I too old for these things?) we survived it. Nevertheless I'm quite glad that we won't be sleeping in a tent again for some time, not with these temperatures at least!

Akaroa, known as the "French Village", sits in a beatiful location, in a harboured bay at the end of the Banks peninsula, not too far from Christchurch. The area has many hikes and various activities that you can enjoy. Unfortunately the weather worked against us, and we couldn't do much more than visit the town and rest in the hostel. It felt great anyway, being inside an actual room with a cup of tea and a movie while outside the wind howls and rainy clouds shadow the sky. We were glad to be indoor instead of in a camping.

View over the bay

Old wooden lighthouse

French flag. Noticed the clouds?

Even the gas station has signs in French

After two days of rain we had enough. It was time to move on towards Queenstown, from where we would catch a flight for Auckland and the North Island. To split the trip in two parts we chose to stop at a small hostel in the middle of nowhere, nearby a tiny town called Omarama.