Whale watching in Kaikoura
Our trip got off to an inauspicious start as I clipped the bumper of the car next to us as I reversed out of our parking space at the motel. Since it was 7am, I left a note of apology and my contact details under the wiper of the injured car. More on this later.
Kaikoura is a two and a half hour drive north-east from Christchurch.
As we set off it was drizzling with rain and a bit misty. The drive was pretty straightforward and, like our road-trip up the west coast, there was little in the way of towns or villages of any real size.
We drove through the vineyards of the Waipara district, that produces some of NZ’s best wines, on to the small town of Cheviot and into the hills beyond (hills that do indeed resemble Northumberland’s Cheviot hills), eventually striking the coast at Oaro and finishing with a spectacular coastal drive with the rollers of the Pacific Ocean, creating clouds of spray and creamy surf as they crashed into the jagged rocks, just a few meters from the road.
The tin chariot cruised into Kaikoura an hour early and we had a welcome cup of coffee while we waited for the bus to take us to the boat.
Kaikoura, a town of about 2,000 individuals, owes its existence to the presence of the Hikurangi trench which is an underwater chasm that cuts into the continental shelf and results in seawater over 3,000 meters deep, close inshore. Deep-water species that inhabit the Hikurangi trench include albatrosses and sperm whales, and these can be observed at close hand just a few km off-shore.
Originally, Kaikoura was a base for the whaling industry, but now the town is devoted to serving those that hunt wildlife with cameras.
We set out in a fast, twin-hulled boat, that crashed and bumped its way across the Pacific Ocean swell.
We were given our second safety briefing, plus, a graphic, ten-minute seminar on the topic of sea-sickness, that triggered several cases of this unfortunate malaise.
Less than 15 minutes after leaving port, we were called on deck, as we encountered our first sperm whale.
Sperm whales, dive very deep in pursuit of giant squid and can spend 40 minutes down very deep indeed. When they resurface, they have to rest for up to eight minutes and so it is easy to approach them and watch as they recharge their reserves of oxygen.
Once they are fully recovered, they slowly bend forwards, their tail lifts out of the water in an iconic pose, and they dive head-first into the deep ocean.
As they hunt for squid, far below where light can penetrate, they search using echo location, emitting a series of loud clicks, that can be heard at the surface by using a hydrophone.
Male sperm whales (these are all males) are very territorial and they live a very long time, so it is pretty easy to fine these guys once you get to know them.
In the couple of hours we were out, we watched three individuals for extended periods.
On the way back to port, we stopped by a local fisherman pulling in his catch, surrounded by sea birds, including numerous albatrosses…
We had a bite of lunch in a bar on Kaikoura’s main drag, then back aboard the tin chariot for the two and a half hour trip back to Christchurch.
Once back at the motel, I got out the car hire documents and discovered that in NZ you have to report all car accidents to the police station.
30 minutes later, I am in the Christchurh police HQ at the end of a long que of people waiting to report traffic incidents, lost passports and an assault by a drug-fueled motorcycle gang (the guy was rescued by five ladies from a supermarket).