Kaikoura

We arrived in Kiakoura, a place known for it's snowboarding, surfing, whale, dolphin and seal watching and many other things sea and mountain related. 1km out to sea there in a 1km deep trench where there is a lot of nutrients bringing in these larger sea creatures. We took an instant liking to the place. After our extreme ice cream head ache experience in Dunedin we were relieved to find the sea temperature slightly warmer here, more on the bearable side. After deciding it was a place that we wanted to hang around for a while we decided some wetsuit hoods and boots were going to be essential to make the most of the many wave options in the area.
We hadn't realised quite how popular the place was for fur seals (we always tend to read the guide after we've been to a new place rather than before like most people). We were standing on the beach watching the sea when from behind us, out of the bushes a huge fur seal appeared, he stood upright (must have been at least 6ft) and gave a bark to let us know he was there, it seemed we were standing between him and the sea, we got the hint and got out of his way. He then negotiated his way between the boulders into the sea and swam away. Later whilst in the sea the seal continued to sit with us and watch us with curiosity, he took a particular fancy to John, with his ever growing whiskers he possibly mistook him for one of his own.
Driving around the headland you see hundreds of adult seals laid out on the rocks relaxing and soaking up the sun after a hard night fishing. There is a water fall close by where all the pups live. It's a short 10 minute walk up to the waterfall, where we saw the most amazing sight, at least 100 seal pups playing in a small pool under the water fall. They were far different from their sleepy parents, they were swimming, doing forward and backwards rolls, climbing onto the side to jump back in, wrestling with each other, in fact the pups behaviour was no different to the children's on a Saturday afternoon 'splash session' at Scarborough indoor pool.