"Animal Watching" in Kaikoura – Part Two (Seals, No Whales & Dolphins? - but Sheeps!)

In the morning, we take the slightly more extensive coastal hiking trail at Point Kean, which is higher than the trail from yesterday. Along the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway, we have beautiful views of the mountains and the open sea.

The landscape, when you look towards the mountains, resembles that of Bavaria or the Alps. Green meadows, tall mountains with partially snow-covered peaks. If it weren't for the occasional palm tree coming into view, we could actually sell this as a postcard from the Allgäu.

At the end of the path, we return to sea level, heading down to the beach. Today we walked further along the beach than yesterday when the day was already drawing to a close.

The seals are once again lazily sunbathing and resting. Only a few are moving. We see a pup just nursing from its mother. Fish doesn't seem to be the right thing for the baby yet...

There's a cool and strong wind accompanying us. The temperature is around 17 degrees but is expected to rise to 19 degrees during the day.

In the afternoon, we have booked a whale-watching flight. We hope it won't be too bumpy up there with the wind we are currently feeling... It's a smaller plane we are taking to the air today...

After 2 PM, we arrive at the hangar of Kaikoura Airport. We "check in" and, unlike at a normal airport, our luggage isn't weighed, but rather we are...;-) Shock, are we too heavy for the little airplane? The "ground staff" gives the green light, and we are allowed to board. They probably just want to find out how much weight the pilot and the plane have to contend with... We settle into the waiting area. There are already three French tourists who are also flying with us. The capacity is 8 people, including the pilot. So we can still take two more people. Shortly thereafter, they also arrive. They are two Germans who complete the passenger list. "Boarding completed," so to speak...

Then the "explainer" appears and first tells us that we should take off everything warm we put on because it would be cold in the airplane and just take along a camera. Flying in a t-shirt would be fine because it would be warm on the plane. Okay, we believe him and take off our warm layers.

After that, we receive our life vests and an explanation of how they work, similar to that in commercial flights. Then we take off. Based on weight, the plane is loaded. One person can sit next to the pilot; the others sit behind in pairs. Fortunately, probably because we both weigh about the same, we are seated next to each other in the back row.

After buckling up and being informed about where the sick bags are and the pilot's request that we should use them if necessary, as he wouldn't want to clean the floor, the propeller starts spinning.

The plane rumbles down the runway, and with the note that it might be a bit bumpy, we lift off into the air.

A beautiful coastal landscape with a stunning mountain panorama unfolds. Paths that we also walked on at Kean Point while observing the seals.

But we are also on the lookout for the desired whales or dolphins... I'll give it away: In the 40 minutes we flew over the sea, we didn't see a single one of these animals. We were also told beforehand that it would probably be difficult to see them. The water is too choppy, and the whale migration season is also coming to an end. This wasn't too important to us, and we aren't disappointed that we didn't see any. Thorsten spotted a few dolphins, but they were hard to make out among the waves. A camera wouldn't have captured them at all. The experience of flying over the coastal landscape under a blue sky was an experience in itself.

We return to our accommodation and are eager for tomorrow when we will embark on the boat trip to see the dolphins. Then we will have three hours and hope to see some dolphins (and perhaps even a whale).

The weather, in any case, seems to be calming down. Stronger winds, like today, are not predicted. That's already half the battle...