Monday, August 1 - Day trip to Kaikoura

It is a pity that our trip to the Marae in Kaikoura had to be cancelled because of the flights being cancelled out of Queenstown last weekend.  Despite this schedule change, a day trip to Kaikoura, located on the Pacific coast three and a half hours north of Christchurch, was on tap for today. One word that could be used for what we did get to see today? Magical...


We stopped in Chevoit for tea and then went on to search for honey dew honey in the beech forests along the roadside.  


After, we visited the Ohua seal colony.  Then a surprise for the students --  a short hike just 10 minutes inland to a waterfall we know is used as a safe place for the baby seals this time of year.  Needless to  say we are all captivated by their antics.  The New Zealand Fur Seals are a protected species.

The afternoon was spent sampling whitebait and on a hike on the spit near the bay.  There we learned of the Hutton's shearwater project where a predator-free colony is being established to help ensure survival of this bird species that has only two breeding locations left in all of New Zealand.

We had dinner out in Kaikoura and then headed back to Lincoln.  On the way back we stopped at the forest again to look at the stars and we were lucky, we actually heard a Morepork.


Cheers, Mark