Honeymoon – Albatross, helicopter and seal swim

A very early start for our last full day in New Zealand. We drove from Hanmer Springs to Kaikora, 2 hours at a push but we went on the inland road with its twists and turns. At one point Ali got carried away at 120km/h to get to the albatross encounter in time. We made it by the skin of our teeth. We were taken to the harbour and to our surprise, we were told to jump on a boat that was on land, on a trailer. We were then launched into the water. 

Our guide Tracey took us our to see and it wasn’t long ebfore the albatross followed us. We didn’t go too far from shore when we saw 2 fisherman waving their arms up and down. Their engine didn’t work, so we stayed with them while Tracey called the coastguard. The chow bag was lowered into the water called albatross ice cream (frozen fish livers). We saw the giant petrels (the vultures of the sea) who were big bullies and didn’t want to share their food. The wandering, salvins and white capped albatross followed and they had first dibs on the ice cream, but only one at a time. The numerous cape pigeons had no chance of getting to the ice cream. Our thanks to Jean-Louis and Danielle for the treat.

Back on shore via the trailer again and onto our next stop, whale watching by helicopter thanks to my mum and dad. We were weighed before we got on the helicopter as it was the smallest I’ve ever been in, with only 4 seats, and one of those is the pilots. Ali sat in the front and off we went for 30 minutes to spot sperm whales who lie on the surface of the water for 8 minutes before diving down for 45 minutes again. We found one of the regulars to Kaikora, the bachelor pad for the sperm whale. We circled the whale over and over again and then watched it raise its fluke and down it went. It’s absolutely huge, you can fit two helicopters on its back alone and seeing it from the sky meant that we saw the whole whale in the turquoise water. We travelled back along the beach, looking into peoples back gardens and tourists taking our picture. 

Our last stop of our hectic day was a seal swim, back to the place we visited on the boat in the morning. On with a wet suit, then another wetsuit jacket, a wetsuit hat! You can tell how cold it’s going to be! We boarded an old school bus, had to walk bare foot over the rocks and tons of sea weed to board the boat. We were then instructed to go over the side, Ali with her surfboard to keep her afloat. The swell was so strong that it was quite a workout to stay in place. We swam with the seals and watched them swim between the kelp. One dodgy moment was when one of them threatened me by coming towards me with it’s teeth showing! Back on land via driving up onto a trailer again, then a long drive back to Diamond Harbour for our last night with Matthew and Andy.