Kaikaora: the seal town

After leaving Christchurch, we were heading up north to Picton. We went via the coast, but heading out of Christchurch, the first part of our drive was through farm and mountain country. First though, we had to get out of the Christchurch suburbs. Life was moving slowly as we drove through. This lady just walked right across the street in front of us as we were going through town. She clearly expected us to stop for her!  

The Christchurch suburbs were fairly big, but after thirty minutes or so, we were on the open road. It was a beautiful day for driving.

 

Our drive was ultimately to Picton on the northern coast, but we planned to stop a little over halfway in Kaikoura. Kaikoura is an interesting little town: it's right between the ocean and the Seaward Kaikoura mountain range. So while standing on the beach, you can have your feet in the ocean and see snow-capped mountains. Kaikoura is also a tiny little town, like most of the towns we drove through. But unlike many of them, Kaikoura has started looking like a tourist town with a few little gift shops and cafes.

 

  

The roads in and out of Kaikoura are beautiful. Dad took some pictures for me with my phone while we drove. And we stopped a few times just to have a look around.

 

There was also a short walk to the top of the hill in Kaikoura that we took the time to walk up. 

The best part about Kaikoura, though, was the seal colony in the area! I was sooo excited that we might get to see some seals, and I was not disappointed! We saw sooo many seals that we eventually just had to leave - if I'd stayed to look at them all, we'd still be there.

 

 

  

I was a big fan of Kaikoira, and all around it was an amazing drive!