Kerry and I booked a short but interesting trip to Kaikōura, as part of a Great Journeys NZ trip. This included: a train ride, an overnight stay in a nice hotel, a dolphin excursion (or whale, or albatross watching), and a return train ride from Christchurch. We flew from Auckland to Christchurch, stayed overnight in an hotel, and with some excitement grabbed a taxi early next morning and headed to the station to catch a north-bound train, as Kaikōura is in the North Canterbury region in the South Island. We lugged our bags into the crowded station, went over to the ticket office, and after a quick exchange with the staff, found that our train had departed … Let me gloss over that part and leave you to fill in the dots any way you wish.

After quick breakfast back at the hotel and communication with the tour people, Kerry and I headed out to the airport to pick up a rental car the size of a truck! It’s approximately two and a half hours drive from Christchurch, and a most pleasant one, passing through farmland, wineries, and little towns with great cafes, and snow-dusted mountains as a backdrop. It is hilly, especially near the end, but sensible driving keeps one from feeling too jittery on the bends. Soon, the reward comes when the road cuts through the seaward Kaikōura ranges, to reveal the wonderful expanse of deep blue ocean beyond. On arrival, we ventured up to a viewing spot which overlooked South Bay and the town.

Our hotel was rather fabulous, but we were eager to get out and about, so we dumped our bags and set off for a walk before dinner. Now, food is another good reason to venture here. The name Kaikōura literally means, in Māori, to eat crayfish. Kai, is food, and kōura, is crayfish. Though this delicacy is not all the seafood on offer; you will also find groper, cod, mussels and other delights such as oysters, scallops, and whitebait when in season. It was a decent walk out to a well-known eatery, and just as well, for K and I certainly needed the exercise after our meal. Next day was the boat trip to watch dolphins.

And watch dolphins we did. Though the watchers were few; as most who joined our boat were those who wished to swim among the beautiful creatures. A nice idea, except it was the four of us up on the deck who had the best vantage point, as many different groupings of dolphin swam, leapt, and frolicked around and under the boat. Whereas the snorkelers could only see the dolphins bulky shapes as they whizzed through the sea. Another advantage was for us on deck was, that we stayed warm and dry!

Okay, enough of the dolphins. And sadly it was soon time to head back to Christchurch in our rental. On the journey, I was already thinking ahead to a future train journey we have planned in Australia in February. And be assured, with a country as vast as Australia, we will definitely be boarding that train!