Day 6 saw us heading to one of our most eagerly anticipated destinations of our trip, Kaikoura. There have been so many articles in the paper and things we’ve seen on television recently about Kaikoura, and it was one of the first pins in the map at home when marking out our route.
Before leaving Blenheim though we headed a couple of kilometers out of town and visited the vintage air display. Mike had mentioned it to us over breakfast at the Redwood Heights B&B, and being a huge fan of airplanes it was a detour we had to take. The display is an assortment of WWI replicas and originals, and several smaller scale models and glass panels with memorabilia in them. Several of the full size planes are depicted in real life scenes, which Peter Jackson I think assisted in making. There is one stuck in a tree which is particularly life like. The best thing there, for me at least, was a strip of material ripped from The Red Baron’s actual plane, a very significant piece of history. All in all a very neat diversion, but we were keen to hit the road so didn’t loiter long.
The journey from Blenheim to Kaikoura is revered by many, and it is easy to see why. For perhaps 45 minutes you head lazily south past Clifford Bay before you intercept the coast, and enjoy some of the most scenic views we’ve seen yet as you run parallel to the sea all the way down to Kaikoura. It really is a magnificent ride, but would be enjoyed in any vehicle. The roads are top notch and with the sun shining in its full glory, we were in motorbike heaven. Just out of Kaikoura there is a point where you pull over, I think it is called Oahu Point but can’t remember the name, and here there is a fur seal colony that resides on the rocks below. If you ever are traveling this way, you’ll know when you are close because you can smell the seals for quite some time before you can see them! They make for some great photos though, and we had a good twenty minute stop there.
After the point as you travel the last 20 minutes into Kaikoura there are several roadside caravans selling cooked Crayfish for the hungry travelers. I regret now we did not stop and sample this, because dining in Kaikoura is not the best experience, but more on that later! Our B&B hosts had mentioned the caravans and next time I see one I’ll be pulling over.
We finally came into Kaikoura after a very pleasant two hours on the road and Myra let out a huge whoop, you could tell she’d been looking forward to this place! Checking into the top 10 holiday park was nice and painless, and we saved some money with our new loyalty card. These places are great; they’re like the McDonalds of accommodation. Nothing fancy, doesn’t taste that nice, but you know pretty much what you’ll get no matter where you are. It’s a decent place to stay with a pretty comfy bed at a reasonable price, so you can’t complain!
Myra’s first mission was to get some washing done. Now Myra is a fastidious cleaner at home, and you could see that gleam in her eye for the last couple of days, she needed to clean stuff! After she’d put a load in the laundry we rang the whale watch place and got on a waiting list. The list means you have to go down to the centre and hope they call your name out for vacant spots on the boat not filled by people that have not shown up for their pre bookings. We thought it worth a shot and headed down there. After about an hour of waiting we got squeezed onto the last two spots of one of the last boats of the afternoon. So a short bus trip out to the point later, we were boarded and heading out to deep waters looking for Sperm Whales. Now I love whales, so the idea of watching them appealed to me greatly on paper, but the reality of it is somewhat less than the experience I had imagined. The majority of the time is spent inside the ships sitting area, waiting. When the captain finally does manage to track a whale and get near it, you are allowed outside to photograph it. The problem here is that you are a good distance away so you are photographing what could appear to be a log, until the time the whale decides to dive where you get perhaps 2-3 seconds to nail The Tail Shot. It is an extremely slick operation they run, and they have the exclusive permit to do this, but I wanted more. I am happy to admit I am a very fussy bugger, but I thought, very naively it turns out, we’d be pulling up alongside a whale who would be as curious about us as we were about them. I guess for this kind of interaction I may have to become a marine biologist We did encounter some dolphins though, and for me these provided a lot more satisfaction than the Sperm Whale.
After about two and a quarter hours we were back on dry land, and by this time had worked up a huge hunger. We walked the short distance to the main center with a fine dining experience the main goal. Kaikoura’s main strip is about 750m long at a guess, and in this stretch there are 4-5 restaurants. Unfortunately none of these are overly appealing. For a little big city that thrives so much on the tourist dollar, I was very surprised that they had not nailed this mandatory detail. Eventually we settled for a place recommended by the girl on reception at the campground. In all fairness it was adequate, but nothing special, and for the Auckland prices we paid we wanted more. Perhaps the Thai restaurant or the Indian would have been better bets, but we wanted some bona fide kiwi sea food at what we thought would be local prices. The beer was cold, and I’ll leave it at that.
Overall, Kaikoura has been our first disappointment. There is nothing you can quite put your finger on as to why, but the town feels like it has sold its soul. It does everything right, and is a hive of tourists, but still manages to feel empty and void of any character. Everything here seems engineered to clip your ticket on the way though, it screams Give Us Your Money. It has blossomed acutely over a very short time, and in doing so has lost any local flavour, which to me is a shame. Kaikoura could be any money making city anywhere in the world, there is no identity. Sure the place is absolutely blessed with stunning scenery, but the people here all seem transient, like they are only here while the gold is running in the river so to speak.
As I write this on the morning of our departure, the rain has passed and I am very eager to head south to Akaroa. We are spending two nights in Akaroa, using one of our rest days. Akaroa is a beautiful little town with huge French influence. It is probably the polar opposite to Kaikoura in terms of character, and I can’t wait to head off.
