Saturday, November 14, 2009

Hitch Hike across South Island

*update* I've written about The Store in my food blog. Check it what I ate for breakfast that morning.


After two nights in Marlborough wine country, I was on the road again.

road trip to christchurch


But this time, I was in the car of another stranger couple.

hitch hike


Meet the Germans.

nice german couple


I met the wife of the couple the night before after I cycled drunkenly back to my guesthouse from my one-day wine trail and we got to know each other through a glass of wine or two (from my stash which I bought that day).

Next thing I know, they offered me a ride down to Christchurch the following day.

Yay~!

my New Zealand route


It's amazing how many nice people one can meet on a single trip.

What's even more amazing was that they were going to pass by Kaikoura for a day trip on the 6-hr drive down to Christchurch. YAY!!!

Kaikoura is famous for their wildlife observations and more often than not, you're able to spot many creatures like whales at sea, dolphins near the shore and fur seals along the coastal lines. It's a wonderland for animal lovers.

Will talk about Kaikoura in a sec.


On the way, they stopped by a restaurant for a cuppa (where I had my breakfast) which was very famously known among the locals.

Introduce "The Store".

the store kekerengu interior


Apparently most people who do the drive down to Christchurch would purposely stop by this place (place in fact is Kekerengu) for an eat out.

way to The Store in Kekerengu


me in the store kekerengu


Reasons being the obvious upon entrance.
(will do a review about the place in my food blog soon)

description of The Store


After breakfast (coffee for them), we walked out to the parking lot where fog was already collecting.

foggy road


Not a good sign. But they drove on cautiously and made it through anyway.

While half asleep at the backseat of the car, I was suddenly jerked awake by the sudden stall in momentum. The car was parked at the side of the road.

I followed them out of the car and found myself facing the splendid eastern coastal line of New Zealand South Island.

beach at kaikoura


Then I saw the couple speaking to each other in their native tongue and pointing towards the stone-filled beach, I followed gaze and was surprised with the cutest thing!!

baby fur seal 2


Fur Seal!!!

Or seals rather.

The whole colony of them!!!

They were sooooo cute! Especially the baby seals.

baby fur seal


It was a clear sign that we were very near Kaikoura already.

Here's a video of the cute mammals.




Here are some facts about fur seals.

facts about fur seals
Test to your eye sights. Don't squint too much, you can almost make out the words if you focus hard enough.


After 20 mins or so, we finally arrived at Kaikoura!

kaikoura information centre


It was still pretty cold so we brought our thickest jumper and walked the beach.

I realized that the beaches here were pebbles instead of sand.

kaikoura pebble beach


And the wave quite aggressive.

big wave


wave caving in


Spotted a guy challenging the wave next to us, which was pretty funny.

He was running even before the wave hit the shore. Haha... Cute.


Here are a few more random photos in Kaikoura.

white among the grey
a white among the grey


two white pebbles
scouting for pebbles


sperm whale speed bump
sperm whale speed bump, lol!


kaikoura postcards
bought two postcards as a remembrance of the cute baby seal I saw earlier.


fur seal colony location
an empty known popular seal colony area


Last photo was a reminder to all tourists to leave the seals alone in their colony.
I saw more seals at the beach along the drive than 10 people can spot in this colony.


By evening, we arrived at Christchurch where my next host was already there waiting to pick me up.... ;)

(to be continued)

No comments:

Post a Comment