Oamaru, Kaikoura and/or Christchurch

Oamaru is a small, very Victorian town north of Dunedin. It is definitely the most beautiful town we have seen in New Zealand. The Victorian and steampunk-influenced theme has been well implemented not only in the architecture, but also in bars, shops, and everywhere else. Old warehouses are now used as galleries, and even the playground has a steampunk vibe 😉

Afterwards, we drive to Kaikoura primarily to see sperm whales 🐳 We got the idea for whale watching in Australia, where there were many opportunities to see whales from land while going for a walk along the coast. However, this is only possible during the Southern Hemisphere winter, when the animals swim from polar waters to warmer ones. Unfortunately, we were in Australia during the summer, so we decided to do whale watching in New Zealand instead 😉 Here, you have to take a boat out because the sperm whales roam in an underwater canyon where their favorite food, squid and other delicacies, can be found in the depths. The male sperm whales are here all year round, but it's too cold for the slightly smaller females, so they stay in warmer waters. Other types of whales can be found here at different times of the year, but right now it's just the sperm whales.

What is so special about the sperm whale?

It is special in many ways. It starts with the fact that it has the largest brain of all animals and is the largest member of the toothed whale family (15-20 meters, 40-60 tons). Its head accounts for about 1/3 of its total size. As if that weren't enough, it is also the largest living predator and uses clicking sounds to stun and disorientate its prey. These sounds have nothing to do with the famous whale songs, they are something unique and can reach a volume of a whopping 250 decibels. This makes the sperm whale one of the loudest animals. They also use these sounds to communicate with each other and for echolocation. In addition, each whale has 2.5 tons of oil in its head alone. There is a theory that by regulating the temperature of this oil, the whales can change their buoyancy (heat = oil = buoyancy, cold = wax = diving). However, this theory has not been proven. In English, the whale is called "sperm whale" because it was once believed that the liquid in their heads was sperm. Eventually, it was discovered that the females also have this liquid in their heads and that it is oil 😃 Unfortunately, this oil was very sought after for a time (for cosmetics, candles, machinery, cars...), and the whales were intensively hunted, which is why they are still on the endangered species list. What is very extraordinary is that the sperm whale, as a mammal, can dive to depths of over 3000 meters for over two hours, surpassing all other mammals! Other types of whales dive much shallower and for less time. This also means that sperm whales are relatively difficult to find on the water's surface, as they only surface for 5-10 minutes to replenish their oxygen supply.

As we set off to sea, we first saw a lot of dolphins, which was absolutely delightful and fun! Since these playful marine mammals never stay still, here is our clumsy video 😉 https://youtu.be/w2xCwXL1i1A

Then we encountered two sperm whales, which is a pretty good average considering the reasons mentioned above. Since they rarely jump (humpback whales are among the more lively jumpers), you actually only see a very small part of them. You see the top with the blowhole and the fluke when the whale dives vertically. But still, it was a really great experience for us to encounter these two, it was absolutely moving and quite emotional in a way. We were both speechless and still lack the words to really describe the encounter. Just WOW! It was by far the most expensive thing we have done so far, but in our opinion, it was worth every dollar!

Afterwards, we had to say goodbye to our Nissan Sunny, which we had somehow grown fond of. Why does that always happen with cars?! Oh well...a lot of packing and unloading, and then it was gone. We spent the next two days in Christchurch. This city is basically one big construction site, as it is regularly shaken by earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The last major earthquake was in November 2016, and there was also a pretty big one in 2011. We actually don't think the city is beautiful, more like strange. But still interesting. Everything is constantly changing here, and nothing seems to last very long. Since large parts of the city center were heavily damaged in the previous earthquakes, many shops were temporarily housed in containers. Some parts of the city have already been rebuilt, others are still missing, and some will probably never be rebuilt. This includes the central cathedral at Cathedral Square, which was so badly damaged that it will not be rebuilt this time. Amidst all the construction sites, closed roads, and dust, the people have really made an effort to make it somehow nice. There is a lot of street art and makeshift colorful seating areas that bring color to the city. If we lived here, we would definitely go into the construction industry 😊

We arrived in Oamaru on our way from Dunedin to the northeast of the South Island, a town whose harbor is filled with Victorian-style buildings, making it, in our opinion, the most beautiful town in New Zealand. In addition, they have taken advantage of the city's architectural theme as a means of promotion, and many of the shops, bars, and restaurants in the harbor have Victorian and retro-futuristic decorations. In fact, there is an art gallery dedicated to the latter theme.

After a long drive, we arrived in Kaikoura with the intention of seeing sperm whales. We bought a tour that takes you out on a boat to see them for two hours. The idea of seeing whales came to us during our time in Australia, but there were none when we were there because it was summer in the southern hemisphere and they only come to these latitudes in winter, so once we were here, we decided to treat ourselves to that luxury :-). It seems that sperm whales can be found in Kaikoura all year round to feed. In fact, only male sperm whales can be found here, as the females are smaller and need warmer waters to live in. The sperm whales are about 20 km off the coast of Kaikoura, so the boat makes a quite long trip to see them. They are found in that area because it is very deep and is home to their favorite food, squid.

We have learned a few very curious things about sperm whales:

- They have the largest brain in the animal kingdom.

- They are the largest toothed predator on the planet.

- They have 2.5 tons of oil in their heads. Apparently, it helps them to dive into the depths and acts as an amplifier for the sounds they emit. In fact, they use their 'voice', which can reach up to 250dB, to stun their prey. At first, it was thought that this oil was the sperm of sperm whales, a theory that was quickly undermined when it was discovered that females also have this oil :-). Hence, sperm whales are called "sperm whales" in English.

- The oil from their heads was used as lamp or car oil for a long time, which led to indiscriminate hunting of them.

- They can dive deeper than any other mammal, up to 3 km.

- And much more...

We managed to see up to two of them. You can see the top of their heads, and they breathe 5 to 6 times before diving again, showing their tail. On the way, we enjoyed the company of dolphins, which we captured on video:

https://youtu.be/w2xCwXL1i1A

It is an exciting moment to see these huge animals, and you are practically speechless. It is simply breathtaking.

We then headed to Christchurch to return the car, which we had already grown fond of, and enjoy two days in the city. The most striking thing about the city is the aftermath of the last earthquake it suffered in 2016 and the strongest one in 2011, which destroyed the cathedral. You could say that the city center is a large construction site with roads blocked everywhere. In fact, for the businesses that were affected, industrial containers were made available for them to continue their business, which can still be seen. In addition, the city offers many places to enjoy street art and has some pretty cool things like a giant video game console that actually works :-D.