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Muddy Walks and Sleepy Seals
Kaikoura, 21st November 2001.
We had hoped to have a go at piloting a plane today, however, the
continuing bad weather meant that it had to be cancelled. We decided
that it was best to move on because Kaikoura was quite dull in the
rain. However, when we phoned up the Kiwi Experience, they told us
that there was only one gap on tomorrow's coach and there was no bus
on Friday, so we'd have to wait till Saturday. Great. 3 days with
nothing to do. Oh well, we weren't in any particular hurry and if we
were lucky there might be some cancellations on tomorrow's bus.
 Instead
of wasting the day indoors we decided to take a coastal walk around
the Kaikoura peninsula. It was a little muggy & rainy, but armed
with our waterproofs & British spirit, it was quite bearable. We set
off, and quickly left the town behind us. We pushed through a
collection muddy fields and rolling hills and slowly climbed
upwards. The peaks of the distant mountains were hidden by the low
fog, but we could still clearly see the water around the peninsula
and the views made the hard climb worth it.
 We
crossed over to the other side of the hill to be confronted with a
steep, wet, clay path. As we strode down the trail, the clay stuck
to our boots, making us heavier and heavier and pulling us faster
and faster until we were sprinting down. Narrowly avoiding slipping
over, we braked at the bottom and turned to find a seal viewing
point. We'd made perfect timing, and the low tide meant that the
rocky flats were completely uncovered and we could see a number of
seals reclining on the glistening stones.
 We
spent a half hour or so watching the seals, peacefully sleeping.
They were surprisingly trusting and we could very close to them.
However, if we made even a slight noise, they would lazily open one
eye to look at us, making it clear that they knew we were there.
When we got back to the hostel, cold and damp, the first thing we
did was take a hot shower. By the time we were sorted and had eaten
dinner, a new bus load of people had arrived so the the hostel was
quite full. We moved downstairs to a quieter room and passed the
evening hours playing cards with a random oldish guy who was sitting
there reading. He was a good laugh, but quite old, especially for a
backpacker. We tried to guess his age, but all we could get is that
he remembered when McDonalds first opened in the UK...
I also phoned up the Kiwi Experience again and luckily there had
been some cancellations so we were able to squeeze onto the bus
tomorrow. So after another hour or so, long after the cosy wooden
fire has burned out, we decided to hit the hay to catch the early
coach out tomorrow
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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