Kaikoura

Kaikoura - by Old Lady

20^th Dec 2007

This is the land of sea life – we get to experience being a few meters away from sea lions in the wild…..get to witness the diving showing off the fluke acts from the SPERM WHALES….and roadside lobster dining. ~ALL In One Place~

This is a last minute added location into our Self Drive South New Zealand itinerary – Old man insisted on it as he challenged himself for a perfect photo shot of the Whale’s fluke. So, to please Old Man, I took a day off from Dunedin and slotted Kaikoura into the itinerary. Its one of smartest thing we did because Kaikoura is definitely worth visiting.

Nell, as usual tend to be over-excited when animals are involved. She rushed to a sun basking sea lion the moment she spotted it….she got so near to it…that a local started screaming at us warning us of being way too close to this unpredictable wild life…Alamak!!!..so embarrassing. Anyway, we managed to get this near shot of Nell and her sea lion. Also, we didn’t feel too bad about our bad judgment as we soon found out from an old American couple that the husband went to pat the said sea lion…out of sheer excitement too. Hahahahahhaahhahaha. But you will soon realized that one should not be so complacent when being so close with an unpredictable wild life once you noticed many signage around warning on the safe distance to the sea lions. YIKES!

After the experience with the sea lions, we went back to our lovely motel, clean up and proceed to this lovely roadside stall, recommended by Deb, the motel owner. Great recommendation, the grilled lobsters served were fresh and cheap…half of the price charged by restaurant and the ambience is top class. Fresh cool air from the sea breeze, tucked in between the sea and the little hills….PERFECT!

Juicy clam chowder – ordered one and another and another….

Expensive lobster – don’t really understand why though…the taste is just the same as the shrimps…hmmm..actually the shrimps are tastier..so, still didn’t get it. Anyway, Old man due to his allergy to lobsters among many others, didn’t manage to indulge in this expensive crustacean. WOHOOOOOOO!!! The whole crustacean is mine…MINE! MINE!!...oh wait…no…I still have to share it with my two precious princesses.

Scallops sandwich for Old Man – Old + Man + mah huan = ROTI

21^st Dec 2007

Next morning, off to Whale watching expedition ~ Old Man getting all excited for this expedition. Woke up early for his morning breakfast to ensure he don’t end up returning it to mother sea later on (must eat not too soon and not too late before the boat ride..hehehehhehehehe) The sea was in moderate waves condition that morning and since we have young kids with us, we were given the back seat which is considered the most stable part of the boat.

The boat started off into the deep water, with frequent stops for the captain to check for Sperm Whale nearby, spotted one on the 3^rd or 4^th stop with Old Man already turning Green (Whenever the boat stopped, me and Nell would get out to the viewing bay of the boat and waited for the Captain announcement on the status of sperm whale nearby, announced NONE, the boat will move on and we will be back to our seat as per procedure and on one of this routine, when we were walking back to our seat, saw Old Man covering his nose and mouth with handkerchief and looking green stuck in his seat –was feeling too ill to even get up – How is that for the man whose dream is to get the perfect photo shots of the whale’s fluke….hahahahhaahhahahahahaha..HILLARIOUS)

Anyway, managed to spot about 3 Sperm Whales, I videocam them all, Old Man did get out eventually and snapped this few FLUKES. He was coaxed by the female Whale Watch Operator to do so ~ male ego mah, so he pried himself off the seat, clinging onto his handkerchief and precious camera and BRAVO! Picture perfect FLUKES by The Old Man.

Liz was sleeping thru out the whale watch expedition. When we are back in our Pajero, I told her that she has missed watching the Whale and the infamous Flukes….which she replied to as “Its ok, I can watch it from the video, it’s the same” ;)