| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
Comments | Table of Contents |
Kaikoura Pelagic Trips |
Page 3/3 |
Swimming with sea animals has become immensely popular around the world. At first it was swimming with captive dolphins in pens. Now you can swim with sharks, sting rays, sea turtles, dolphins, and seals in the open ocean. While some say that this is an unethical exploitation of the animals, people seem to absolutely love the experience. Anything that generates this sort of enthusiasm and revenue will be good for the ultimate survival of the animals at least in my opinion. At any rate I wanted to try my hand at it.
Dolphin Encounter shares the same sales office as Albatross Encounters. The trip cost me NZ$90 with a discount because I had taken so many trips. First you get outfitted with a suitable wet suit, face mask, snorkel, and fins. It is not a requirement, but it seems to me that a person needs experience snorkeling before you take this on. Using a snorkel is not intuitive. Of course you must be a good swimmer. I have a scuba diving certificate and a good deal of snorkeling experience so it was easy for me. Dragging all this equipment, we were off to the boat at South Bay by bus. Some people sign up at half price to just watch.
The boat sails out to locate a large pod of Dusky Dolphins. The boat horn signals for the swimmers go into the water off the back of the boat. Suddenly you find yourself with dolphins all around you. Some swam right next to me so close that I could have touched them (against the rules). You could hear their squeaky calls. Then off they went and the boat horn sounded for the swimmers to scramble back on board.
Off we went to catch up with the pod again and back into the water for another try. Some days the dolphins hang around in one spot, but today they were busy and kept moving . I finally learned that the best tactic was to be the last back to the boat so that I got to sit on the back step with my legs in the water. That way I was the first off for the next swim. We did about 6 swims. The water was very cold at first, but after your body heats up the water in your wet suit it is comfortable.
I was very tired after the last swim and rather glad to stop. Back on the boat you can fill your wet suit with warm water which feels really good. Then you take it off and put a sweat shirt over your wet swim suit. No matter what it is going to be a little cold going back.
Before returning to the dock, the captain caught up with the dolphins again and they were now putting on a pretty good jumping show. I got some good picture of jumping dolphins always a thrilling sight.
And yes I returned very enthusiastic about the experience. It is good fun to swim with dolphins. I am sure it is no advantage to the dolphins, but neither did I think it caused them harm. There are 2 boats in Kaikoura and each one makes two trips a day with swimmers. If the dolphins really minded they would not stay in the bay. The swim with dolphins program is good income for the former fishermen and residents of Kaikoura, giving them a good reason to see that the dolphin population remains healthy and protected.
The Maori run a very successful whale watching operation in Kaikoura. It is expensive NZ$110 per person. At certain times of the year there are Humpback Whales migrating off the coast of Kaikoura. The rest of the year Sperm Whales are are the show. Readers of my web page New England Seabirds know that I call the Humpback Whale the whale to watch as it puts on a good show on the surface. The whale watch is a very successful business and the Maori have plans to build a large hotel on the top of the Kaikoura Peninsula to feed tourists to the whale watch. I wish them success.
There is also a "Swim With Seals" trip out of Kaikoura and the one person I met who went on this was also very enthusiastic despite getting seasick on the way home. Swimming with sea animals is very popular and profitable.
Around Kaikoura
When I wasn't taking pelagic trips, I drove around Kaikoura looking for birds and exploring. On a trip in the direction of Mt. Fyffe I stopped at the Lavender Farm and birded around the garden: Spur-winged Plover, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Pukeo (Purple Swamphen), Silvereyes,Tomtit, Dunnock.
On a farm fence I had flock of Redpolls. I drove a distance along the gravel Kowhai River Track and had Bellbirds, Fantail, Skylark, and Tomtit.
I walked the track from the South Bay refuge which climbs up a steep hill and affords a marvelous view. I had Skylarks and Yellowhammer up here. Pied Stilts were along the shore with a White-faced Heron.
 |
Seal Colony Follow the road in front of the YHA to the Seal Colony at the far end. Most of the Southern Fur Seals haul up on rocks a short distance from shore. Some of the younger seals will haul out next to the road as did this youngster. Take pictures from a safe distance. Remember they are wild animals and should defend themselves. Notice the sheep pastures in the background come down almost to the sea. This is a feature of most of New Zealand farming that has made survival for the Yellow-eyed Penguin a problem. |
 There is a large colony of Spotted Shags around Kaikoura. This one was photographed on the rocks just outside the YHA |
 This Pied Shag is drying its wings on the rocks in front of the YHA. |
 |
My first YHA hostel was in Kaikoura and I stayed here 5
nights for NZ$20 per night. The windows on the right are the dining room and
kitchen which have an awesome view of the bay and the mountains. You can walk
to the grocery store, swimming pool, downtown restaurants, and
shops. The hostel is right across the road from the bay. In winter get up early and enjoy a spectacular red and pink sunrise over the bay and the snow covered mountains. The Kaikoura municipal swimming pool is a block away. It cost me NZ$3 to swim laps in a 25 m pool with anti-turbulence lane markers. Only open in summer. No kick boards. |
Christchurch Antarctic Center
After five nights, I reluctantly left Kaikoura and drove to Christchurch using the back roads. This took me through rolling pastures in which I saw pairs of Paradise Shelducks. There were flocks of the European introduced Yellowhammer, a New Zealand Pipit and white-backed Magpie introduced from Australia.
 |
The female Paradise Shelduck has a white head while the male has a dark head. I saw several pairs walking in the pastures and was amazed at how the female stood out. At a distance the only bird you would notice would be the female. Here a female stands on a fence post. |
In Christchurch I went to the airport and checked into the only hotel I could find the Sumina. This cost me a healthy NZ$115. Because I was already at the airport, I turned in the car a day early saving about NZ$50 and walked back to the hotel for the night. There are two YHAs in Christchurch both in the downtown. For various reason I didn't stay in one on either of my two visits.
The next morning I toured the Antarctic Center which is right next to the hotel. I was anxious to visit this museum as I had read about it on the internet after my trip to Antarctica. I got in for a senior citizen rate of NZ$14.50 (normal adult admission NZ$19). Most of the displays were videos about living in Antarctica and Penguins. I am beginning to realize that most of these specialized museums are nothing but walking around watching one video after another. I passed up the opportunity to put on Antarctica gear and stand in a freezing room with fake blowing snow and a ride on special vehicle used for transportation in Antarctica. I enjoyed the two hours I spent here, but I guess the message is don't go out of your way. ( I once spent a week at Disney World in Orlando giving presentations at a User Conference and found that pretty boring too. )
I took an afternoon flight to Sydney arriving about 4 PM and taking the shuttle to another Hilton Hotel courtesy of my son. I went straight to bed after eating fruit from the complimentary fruit bowl for supper. Tomorrow I pick up the campervan and start seeing Australia.
End Kaikoura
| Kaikoura Pelagic Trips | Next Chapter | Bird List Kaikoura | Table of Contents |