We’ve been in Kaikoura for two days now (it’s Dec 5, Weds here) and I’m going swimming with dolphins today! There was only one “swimming space” on the boat and John wasn’t too keen, so I’m doing it while he stands on deck and takes photos. It’s pretty expensive, we hadn’t planned on it, but the owner of the place we are staying here talked us into it, said it was not to be missed. We’ve never swum with dolphins anywhere else—like places where the water is a bit warmer, for instance. (Ohh, now we just got a call, another space opened up and John will be swimming, too.)
We’re in a self-contained cottage on top of a hill overlooking the town and the bay and the mountains beyond. This morning for the first time we could see the tops of the mountains, and they have snow on them still (they actually had a little snowfall two weeks ago). They rise up pretty much out of the ocean, and the highest one nearby is 2600 meters, about 8000 feet. And just offshore of Kaikoura is a series of ocean trenches that are 3000 meters at their deepest point. The trenches are the reason there’s so much sea life here, the currents bring plankton and other goodies up from the deep into the “light zone”. The place is famous for whales and bird life and fur seals and dusky dolphins, which is what I hope to be swimming with this afternoon.
We took a walk yesterday afternoon all around the end of the peninsula on which the town lies. There were hundreds of seals basking on the rocks (not pleasant to be downwind of them) and thousands of red-billed gulls, which are native to NZ. We have been seeing these gulls everywhere. Their call is more high-pitched and whiny than other gulls, if you can imagine that. They sound like two-year-olds having a tantrum. At one point I got a bit too close to part of the colony and about a hundred of them came after me. It was a bit scary, all these very sharp beaks and beady little eyes flying at top speed right at me. I made a quick retreat, and they followed me for a couple hundred yards. I was way back from the official sign at the point beyond which people are not supposed to walk, but obviously it was too close for their comfort. Hope I didn’t do any harm.
The walk was gorgeous (of course—I said to John yesterday that this whole country is like one big nature photograph), with big horizontal slabs of limestone extending way out into the water like pavement, interesting cracks making geometric patterns under the water, barely submerged when we passed a couple hours after low tide. Some cracks with seaweed growing in them, so there were green lines through the rock. Then there are typical limestone coast kind of rock outcrops eroded in very interesting ways all along the shore, and blindingly white small rocks for the beach. Also we saw whale and dolphin bones, bleached pure white. White stone beach immediately melding into green green sheep pasture and cliffs. The sun came out, and it was all sooo bright, so much reflection. John was wearing #45 sunscreen (supposedly, the bottle is quite old and maybe has lost its punch) and he still got a bit burned. Sometimes he complains about the cloudiness, being a sun-lover, but the bright sun feels tougher on me than the cold. The weather is so unpredictable and variable, temperatures can fall or rise 10-15 degrees celsius (18-28 degrees F) in a very short time. Good to be prepared!
The place we’re staying is owned by the couple next door, who are artists and have a gallery right here. We like some of their work, it is quite humorous and theatrical. We thought of the Pods immediately (friends of ours, for those who don’t know them). The style of the place is right up your alley, I think. The place has diagonal walls that are open at the top so it’s very breezy. The only door that can close is to the toilet. Shower is a room of its own (John’s dream shower). Built-in clothes storage looks like something Dr. Seuss would invent. And we can hear the waves and see forever up the coast. We like it a lot. Walter and Brigitte, our hosts, are Swiss. They moved here 15 years ago after one visit to NZ, without knowing any English. They’re an interesting couple, a bit impatient with the laid-back kiwis, very productive themselves.
That’s another thing about NZ. Imagine in the US going to a motel and having long conversations with the owners—how often does that happen? Here it has happened everywhere we’ve stayed, except one place. In Kaka Point the owner even walked right in to the unit and hung around to chat as we were packing up. I suppose some people would hate the informality, but we love it. Even if the motel managers are not the owners, they mostly have treated us like guests in their homes, like in a B&B.
No comments:
Post a Comment