Kaikoura and Marfells Beach

11/20/22

Breakfast again with a view of the sea. The weather doesn't look so bad.

We're going to the whale watching agency again this morning and asking if there's a chance to do a tour in the morning.

We're put on the waiting list and luckily get 2 seats at 10:30 am.

Let's go with the speed catamaran into the bay.

All the vomit bags sticking in the front seat have their reason. Several passengers are seasick and I feel quite sick too.

We see our first whale after a few sighting stops.

A big sperm whale. The boat slowly passes it, no whale hunting. The whale swims past our boat majestically and blows fountains into the air. After a while, it dives down to come to the surface one last time and then completely disappears. We can see its tail fin in a classic way.

The whales here can dive up to 60 minutes and up to 1,000 meters deep.

Then we go back to the harbor.

We're driving further north today to Marfells Beach Campsite.

On the way, we pass several seal colonies.

The campsite is right by the turquoise sea, which Stephen also recommended to us.

A dream!! An almost empty campground (probably because there are only cold showers) on a deserted sandy beach that stretches for kilometers.

We park with a view of the sea and there are only a few other campers besides us.

Among them is Catweazle, a kiwi who lives in the caravan and tells us all sorts of things...but unfortunately we only understand a quarter of it.

Probably like an Englishman talking to a Bavarian 🫣 He answers our question, among other things, as to why wine is so expensive here. The tax on wine was raised because the kiwis were drinking themselves silly.

We enjoy the sun and the beach and also our meal with an incredible view. We can't get enough of it.

Another fantastic place on Earth.