And The Mountains Should Crumble To The Sea

After a grueling early morning walk to the Interislander ferry, I plopped down in a seat on the sun deck of the boat and took in the sights.  The landscape around was quite beautiful, though the strong winds that cut through the channel made it difficult to document.  After a short three hours (and a well deserved nap on the lower deck) I arrived in Picton: the gateway to the South Island.  The town itself, surrounded by such majestic, beautiful mountains, seemed a bit shabby to be considered the "gateway", though I wasn't there long enough to give it a full analysis.  I hopped on the Nakedbus and was on my way to Kaikoura.  About 30km from the town center, I noticed a bright orange sign on the road advising to be wary of seals in the area.  "Seals?!?" I thought.  With a slight turn of my head and a bit of squinting for focus, I saw what I thought were just rocks transform into adorable and playful seals!  And they were so close to shore!  (Times I wished I had my own car: 1.  I'm sure this number will increase).  I'm in the process of asking NakedBus to consider adding a quick pit stop here to take pictures of the seals.

The town of Kaikoura is relatively small, with the entirety of its shops and stores on the main road along the beach.  To avoid being washed away, a moat-like channel was dug between the beach and the street, which effectively deters any flood water from destroying the town and guides it safely back to sea.  The beach itself is rocky and unpleasant, but it's the mountains in the distance that make Kaikoura so attractive.  As Vassar Alum Amy Wheeler described to us before we left for New Zealand: "Kaikoura is also really beautiful because its huge mountains drop right into the sea."  Needless to say, sunrise in this small town is simply breathtaking. 

Seeing as I am cheap, I decided to forgo Kaikoura's most famous activities (whale watching, swimming with dolphins/seals) and opted to walk around Kaikoura Peninsula for free, and I got more than my money's worth.  The limestone that makes up the peninsula is relatively young and has been formed into these random and jagged designs, which were cool in general.  Even cooler were the numerous SEALS chilling on said rocks!  There they were, scattered about, bathing in the sun.  I spent a solid two hours just walking along the coast and taking pictures of seals.  Some let me get unreasonably close to them, others hopped and plopped away before I could get near, and a few barked at me and chased me away.  I capped my day off with the Bucket List and a lovely conversation with two of my roommates from the UK.