Whale watching
Door: Willem & Michelle
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Willem & Michelle
16 Januari 2014 | Nieuw Zeeland, Kaikoura
When we wake up it’s still sunny but the clouds arrive quickly…
Shortly before 9.30 we make our way through the hole in the fence to the meeting center of the Whale Watching.
An ominous sign says there is a warning for sea sickness so we decide to quickly take some breakfast. After briefing we are taken by bus to the wharf where our catamaran boat (the fastest of the fleet) is waiting. The rain has stopped and the sea doesn’t look very rough so we are excited to start one of the top 5 must see in New Zealand.
Whales are common here because of the presence of a deep canyon of 3km in the sea nearby the shore. But to get there takes about half an hour, a tiny bit too much for Michelle who (much to her surprise AND annoyance) gets very sea sick. After her about a third of the passengers follow her example… Luckily there had been a briefing about how to use the sea sickness bags and one of the crew members is very good in collecting them and replacing them by new ones…
At some point the boat suddenly stops and the captain comes down from her post, two meters above us, and gets a about 2 meters long hydrosonic apparatus to listen to noises from a whale which allegedly had to be in the environment. She does this on both sides of the boat to locate the whale better. She does hear one and climbs on her seat again to get a little closer. She’s also in contact with a helicopter (from another whale whatching company) and fishing boats. From them she knows that the whale “has gone fishing” deep in the water about 40 minutes ago which means that he will probably surface soon!
After repeating this action twice she stops the boat and there we see him! A fountain of water comes out of the sea, such an extraordinary experience! We see the large body and behind it in the water the tail. We were told that it must be a relatively young sperm whale who must be afraid of the noises of the boat.
Then suddenly, sooner than expected, the crew start yelling “the tail, the tail!” and the tail comes out of the water and slowly vanishes into the depths of the ocean.
Every tail is different by which, among others, the whales are recognized. The crew knows all the whales and each of them has a name as they come back very often to these waters. This whale is a young one and doesn’t even have a name yet.
The captain hears another one and she starts chasing it. This one is larger, well known and stays longer on the surface and lets the crew know when it is going down again so that they can warn the people in time.
It was an amazing experience. On the way back we pass a few dolphins, another seal colony with a nursery and twenty seasickness bags later we’re back in the wharf.
The weather has become wonderful, sunny and warm and we decide to get a “fish and chips” and eat that “at home”.
While we’re doing so on the big wooden pick nick table provided by the camping site and which stands on Nomansland between the two campervans, our neighbours return from fishing and we invite them to share the table.
We learn then that the gentleman is a Fries (Dutchman from the northern province Friesland), who has been living here for 34 years and now as “pensionado” sold everything and started to travel with his campervan “homeless” with his kiwi wife. Quite a decision! But they seem very happy.
Then suddenly, like it occurs sometimes in the Provence, the weather changes: it gets very cold and windy, the predicted storm is there.
Despite the sea sickness I couldn’t help myself to book for a “swim with the dolphins tour”. I didn’t have success in Paihia and I wanted this so badly…. They just had one spot left for swimmers and enough for watchers (of course Willem will not get into water which is not of a tropical temperature) but because of the weather forecast they don’t know yet if the tour can be done so we have to report tomorrow at 8.15 and we will see…..
Shortly before 9.30 we make our way through the hole in the fence to the meeting center of the Whale Watching.
An ominous sign says there is a warning for sea sickness so we decide to quickly take some breakfast. After briefing we are taken by bus to the wharf where our catamaran boat (the fastest of the fleet) is waiting. The rain has stopped and the sea doesn’t look very rough so we are excited to start one of the top 5 must see in New Zealand.
Whales are common here because of the presence of a deep canyon of 3km in the sea nearby the shore. But to get there takes about half an hour, a tiny bit too much for Michelle who (much to her surprise AND annoyance) gets very sea sick. After her about a third of the passengers follow her example… Luckily there had been a briefing about how to use the sea sickness bags and one of the crew members is very good in collecting them and replacing them by new ones…
At some point the boat suddenly stops and the captain comes down from her post, two meters above us, and gets a about 2 meters long hydrosonic apparatus to listen to noises from a whale which allegedly had to be in the environment. She does this on both sides of the boat to locate the whale better. She does hear one and climbs on her seat again to get a little closer. She’s also in contact with a helicopter (from another whale whatching company) and fishing boats. From them she knows that the whale “has gone fishing” deep in the water about 40 minutes ago which means that he will probably surface soon!
After repeating this action twice she stops the boat and there we see him! A fountain of water comes out of the sea, such an extraordinary experience! We see the large body and behind it in the water the tail. We were told that it must be a relatively young sperm whale who must be afraid of the noises of the boat.
Then suddenly, sooner than expected, the crew start yelling “the tail, the tail!” and the tail comes out of the water and slowly vanishes into the depths of the ocean.
Every tail is different by which, among others, the whales are recognized. The crew knows all the whales and each of them has a name as they come back very often to these waters. This whale is a young one and doesn’t even have a name yet.
The captain hears another one and she starts chasing it. This one is larger, well known and stays longer on the surface and lets the crew know when it is going down again so that they can warn the people in time.
It was an amazing experience. On the way back we pass a few dolphins, another seal colony with a nursery and twenty seasickness bags later we’re back in the wharf.
The weather has become wonderful, sunny and warm and we decide to get a “fish and chips” and eat that “at home”.
While we’re doing so on the big wooden pick nick table provided by the camping site and which stands on Nomansland between the two campervans, our neighbours return from fishing and we invite them to share the table.
We learn then that the gentleman is a Fries (Dutchman from the northern province Friesland), who has been living here for 34 years and now as “pensionado” sold everything and started to travel with his campervan “homeless” with his kiwi wife. Quite a decision! But they seem very happy.
Then suddenly, like it occurs sometimes in the Provence, the weather changes: it gets very cold and windy, the predicted storm is there.
Despite the sea sickness I couldn’t help myself to book for a “swim with the dolphins tour”. I didn’t have success in Paihia and I wanted this so badly…. They just had one spot left for swimmers and enough for watchers (of course Willem will not get into water which is not of a tropical temperature) but because of the weather forecast they don’t know yet if the tour can be done so we have to report tomorrow at 8.15 and we will see…..
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
