Before leaving Christchurch, I was fortunate enough to be able to take my time on the way out of town, allowing me to revisit the amazing Burrito Company for another great lunch, check out the Botanic Gardens one last time, and to see The Wizard of Christchurch. The Wizard is a sort of institution of the city, so I was glad that he decided to make an appearance. Every guide book mentions him and his crazy antics, despite having officially retired about five years ago. Basically, he is a crazy street performer that stands in the middle of the main square in town on top of a ladder and preaches about any and every topic that one can think of, sometimes challenging others to debates, other times just enjoying the sound of hearing himself talk. He is certainly never at a loss for words, though. I briefly heard him speak about a bit of his late childhood education which then morphed into the lack of importance of education amongst today's youths and then to the seemingly mutually exclusive demise and salvation of man thanks or due to women, depending on which moment of the argument that you heard. I also stopped at a few auto parts shops and eventually found the right place to repair One-Eyed Willy. The headlight specialty shop had all kinds of custom lighting, clear lenses, neon track lighting, etc, but I just went for the factory look and was able to get a used part. The worker said it would be $82, but it turned out that I misheard him, and when he gave me the invoice, it was only $32. Also, I was lucky that the toolkit of the van had just enough to manage to do the job myself while avoiding getting cut too badly by the large shards of glass that fell every time I moved the light. After some dirt and grease and about an hour, Willy was looking good, and we were ready to go. Two-Eyed Willy doesn't sound quite as good or menacing, so I think we'll keep the original moniker, though. Not too far out of town, I found a small road on the map that led to a beach, so I veered off the main road and found the tiny town along the beach just before the sun went down and the slightly pink sky revealed a whitewashed island straight off the main beach of the town. Hoping to stay in the parking lot right along the beach, I was deterred by a few warning signs, so I headed back down the main road and found a campsite (a grassy field 100 meters from the beach) that only required a few dollars donation for the night for the use of the site, faucet and bathrooms.
As I moved up the coast, the scenery changed back from the rolling hills and plains to the rocky coast and mountainous countryside that I'd seen before, leaving little room for the road, hugging the coast, overlooking the blue, sometimes greenish water. My next stop along the coast was the small town of Kaikoura, supposedly known worldwide for its marine wildlife viewing. There are numerous operators with whale, seal and dolphin watching tours, though I decided to talk the coastal track and try to see them for myself. The track starts from a car park outside of town, then winds along a wide, rocky shore full of tide pools and inlets, curving around for a few miles before meeting up with the other end of the trail where you can either return the way you came, if the tide is low, or head up the steep cliff to the walkway among the grass pastures overlooking the water from about 100 feet above. Immediately from the car park, I saw the first of what would be many NZ fur seals, basking in the sun along the rocks. The sleeping seals aren't as aggressive (because they're sleeping and not fighting for territory), so you can actually get pretty close to them. Further along the beach, I hiked out onto the jagged, serrated white rocks and started to find random seals laying in nooks of the rocks, taking a break from swimming in the cool water.
Then, along with four other people, we found the jackpot. As we neared one point of the rocks, we saw a little baby seal poking its head out of the rocks around the corner at us, and as we got closer, we saw more and more gray blobs starting to move. Within minutes, there were about 70 seals in our view, most of them popping up and craning their heads like prairie dogs or meerkats in our direction, trying to see who the intruders were and if it was worth moving or just falling back asleep. Despite a few scared looks and barks, one of the German tourists with me decided to keep walking closer and closer, though the lens on his camera looked as if he could have photographed them from outer space. So, as he moved in for closer pictures, many of the smaller seals retreated back to the water, and about 30 or 40 of the braver ones stuck around as we observed them from a rocky perch about 20 yards away. I stayed for a while admiring the seals and watching them before moving on for more potential viewing opportunities, hopefully without the oblivious photographer. As this is quite a large seal colony, I quickly found a few more isolated seals along the rocks, though no large groups like before. The seals are all resting, taking time to just relax, looking much like a brownish gray bag of lard, as their limp bodies seem to wrap around the contours of even the most obscurely shaped rocks, showing off their bellies, presumably full of fish from the water below.
Arriving at one narrow point, I saw that my path was blocked by two or three sleeping seals, and I decided to try to avoid a confrontation as I would be stepping on or around them to get by, so I surveyed my options. Just off to the side, I saw a dark cave entrance, but I was a bit afraid of sneaking up and scaring a seal in the dark and the consequences of that potential interaction. As it turns out, that was my only option, so I entered the tall, skinny cave, preceded by a few rocks that I threw to alert anything of my impending entrance. The cave ended up only being about 30 feet long to the other opening, but I did find a fellow inhabitant. Halfway through, I looked on one of the shelves along the wall of the cave, and just a few feet away, right about head level, a yellow eyed penguin was perched, watching my every move but not making a sound. I backed away a bit, found a spot about 10 feet from the penguin and just watched him for a while. After he realized that I probably wasn't a threat, he resumed taking a nap, in between checking on me, stretching his wings and hopping up and down the rocks a bit. The penguin was about 1.5 feet tall, maybe a little larger than a big cat, with the traditional black and white coloring, strong and large pink feet and a yellow band going around its head and eyes, giving it the name. I was surprised at being so close to such a beautiful and somewhat rare animal, but I soon found out part of the reason. As I left the cave and bid the penguin farewell, I immediately saw the reason he was in there...a large seal had planted himself at the other opening of the cave, so the penguin was basically stuck in the cave, going to have to wait it out or try to sneak by without the seal waking up. I chose the second option and snuck by the seal without making too much noise or waking it. Later in the walk, I saw a few more seals, and I even tried my luck at the snorting/blowing noise that the males make when they are agitated, but the nearby seal that I awoke with this didn't seem to be too pleased with me, so he showed his teeth, lunged forward a bit and chased me off before going back to sleep.
On the way back, I chose the high tide route, which was a bit more direct but also a lot more windy, as the wind is directed from the coast up and over the hills, right along the tops of the cliffs. I found a perch along the point of one of these cliffs that was recommended by one of the other walkers, and it was a nice perch along a very narrow walkway with steep drops on both sides that seemed a lot more scary and dangerous on the way back, after a nice sweeping vista of the bay and the surrounding coastline. Soon, I left the cliffs and beach behind, headed back to town for a cheap meal of a mince pie and hamburger (not so good), and then I was off. I found a nice gravel lot along the beach just North of town, affording a comfortable spot just meters from the pebble beach a few feet below. The next morning, I awoke with the sun, then fell asleep again, then awoke with...well, the sun again, and I headed up the scenic coast. As I passed by rock formations and coastline, I looked down and saw occasional seals frolicking in the water before stopping at Ohau lookout, where I saw at least 80 seals laying on the rocks, barking at each other, hopping by, and just playing around. A group of baby seals actually hopped up the rocks towards us and found a nice sleeping place underneath one of the trees just below us. I stayed and watched them play for a while, and then I was off...up to the North coast, to either Nelson or Picton or somewhere along the way.
As I moved up the coast, the scenery changed back from the rolling hills and plains to the rocky coast and mountainous countryside that I'd seen before, leaving little room for the road, hugging the coast, overlooking the blue, sometimes greenish water. My next stop along the coast was the small town of Kaikoura, supposedly known worldwide for its marine wildlife viewing. There are numerous operators with whale, seal and dolphin watching tours, though I decided to talk the coastal track and try to see them for myself. The track starts from a car park outside of town, then winds along a wide, rocky shore full of tide pools and inlets, curving around for a few miles before meeting up with the other end of the trail where you can either return the way you came, if the tide is low, or head up the steep cliff to the walkway among the grass pastures overlooking the water from about 100 feet above. Immediately from the car park, I saw the first of what would be many NZ fur seals, basking in the sun along the rocks. The sleeping seals aren't as aggressive (because they're sleeping and not fighting for territory), so you can actually get pretty close to them. Further along the beach, I hiked out onto the jagged, serrated white rocks and started to find random seals laying in nooks of the rocks, taking a break from swimming in the cool water.
Then, along with four other people, we found the jackpot. As we neared one point of the rocks, we saw a little baby seal poking its head out of the rocks around the corner at us, and as we got closer, we saw more and more gray blobs starting to move. Within minutes, there were about 70 seals in our view, most of them popping up and craning their heads like prairie dogs or meerkats in our direction, trying to see who the intruders were and if it was worth moving or just falling back asleep. Despite a few scared looks and barks, one of the German tourists with me decided to keep walking closer and closer, though the lens on his camera looked as if he could have photographed them from outer space. So, as he moved in for closer pictures, many of the smaller seals retreated back to the water, and about 30 or 40 of the braver ones stuck around as we observed them from a rocky perch about 20 yards away. I stayed for a while admiring the seals and watching them before moving on for more potential viewing opportunities, hopefully without the oblivious photographer. As this is quite a large seal colony, I quickly found a few more isolated seals along the rocks, though no large groups like before. The seals are all resting, taking time to just relax, looking much like a brownish gray bag of lard, as their limp bodies seem to wrap around the contours of even the most obscurely shaped rocks, showing off their bellies, presumably full of fish from the water below.
Arriving at one narrow point, I saw that my path was blocked by two or three sleeping seals, and I decided to try to avoid a confrontation as I would be stepping on or around them to get by, so I surveyed my options. Just off to the side, I saw a dark cave entrance, but I was a bit afraid of sneaking up and scaring a seal in the dark and the consequences of that potential interaction. As it turns out, that was my only option, so I entered the tall, skinny cave, preceded by a few rocks that I threw to alert anything of my impending entrance. The cave ended up only being about 30 feet long to the other opening, but I did find a fellow inhabitant. Halfway through, I looked on one of the shelves along the wall of the cave, and just a few feet away, right about head level, a yellow eyed penguin was perched, watching my every move but not making a sound. I backed away a bit, found a spot about 10 feet from the penguin and just watched him for a while. After he realized that I probably wasn't a threat, he resumed taking a nap, in between checking on me, stretching his wings and hopping up and down the rocks a bit. The penguin was about 1.5 feet tall, maybe a little larger than a big cat, with the traditional black and white coloring, strong and large pink feet and a yellow band going around its head and eyes, giving it the name. I was surprised at being so close to such a beautiful and somewhat rare animal, but I soon found out part of the reason. As I left the cave and bid the penguin farewell, I immediately saw the reason he was in there...a large seal had planted himself at the other opening of the cave, so the penguin was basically stuck in the cave, going to have to wait it out or try to sneak by without the seal waking up. I chose the second option and snuck by the seal without making too much noise or waking it. Later in the walk, I saw a few more seals, and I even tried my luck at the snorting/blowing noise that the males make when they are agitated, but the nearby seal that I awoke with this didn't seem to be too pleased with me, so he showed his teeth, lunged forward a bit and chased me off before going back to sleep.
On the way back, I chose the high tide route, which was a bit more direct but also a lot more windy, as the wind is directed from the coast up and over the hills, right along the tops of the cliffs. I found a perch along the point of one of these cliffs that was recommended by one of the other walkers, and it was a nice perch along a very narrow walkway with steep drops on both sides that seemed a lot more scary and dangerous on the way back, after a nice sweeping vista of the bay and the surrounding coastline. Soon, I left the cliffs and beach behind, headed back to town for a cheap meal of a mince pie and hamburger (not so good), and then I was off. I found a nice gravel lot along the beach just North of town, affording a comfortable spot just meters from the pebble beach a few feet below. The next morning, I awoke with the sun, then fell asleep again, then awoke with...well, the sun again, and I headed up the scenic coast. As I passed by rock formations and coastline, I looked down and saw occasional seals frolicking in the water before stopping at Ohau lookout, where I saw at least 80 seals laying on the rocks, barking at each other, hopping by, and just playing around. A group of baby seals actually hopped up the rocks towards us and found a nice sleeping place underneath one of the trees just below us. I stayed and watched them play for a while, and then I was off...up to the North coast, to either Nelson or Picton or somewhere along the way.
(The Wizard of Christchurch, preaching and yelling and just plain talking)
(A characteristic view of the drive along the rocky coastline to Kaikoura)
(Part of the large group of seals, some scared away by the oblivious German photographer)
(The yellow eyed penguin buddy that I met in the cave)
(The view along the cliffs walking back above rocks at Kaikoura)
(This little guy doesn't look happy, but he/she was actually yawning...could have been an angry yawn, though) 
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