Kaikoura

We took the Intercity Bus from Christchurch to Kaikoura, which let us off at a stop one block from the YHA hostel/backpackers where we stayed for two nights.  YHA-Kaikoura is a fairly small hostel, beautifully situated on the edge of Kaikoura bay with a great view across to the mountains, which had recently been covered with a coat of snow.  Kaikoura is known as a scenic destination, as the mountain range and the sea coast are very close together.

We’d heard the weather was going to change, so we dropped off our bags, packed a lunch, and starting walking on the Kaikoura Peninsula trail.  It starts along the bay on a path lined with large Norfolk pine trees, goes by a seal colony (with seals lying in the sun right on the side of the trail), heads up into the hills with great views back to the bays and the snow-covered mountains, and then crosses the peninsula hills to return to Kaikoura.  There were several interesting birds and plants along the way.

A rather cocky baby seal

The mountains are so close you could touch them...

Maori archway

As predicted, the rain started up the next day.  We were able to walk some around town, and talked to a very nice couple from Christchurch who were caretaking their daughter’s book store.  We caught up on our reading, cooked a good meal, and prepared for the next day’s bus trip up to Picton, where we rented a car and drove out to Anakiwa, a small town in the Marlborough Sounds.  Before we left, we took a final walk down the Kaikoura bay beach.

 

Red-billed gull on a bus stop