12 December 2011

Southward Seals

Marborough

This Saturday, Sam & I drove from Nelson to Kaiapoi, outside of Christchurch.  It was the longest leg of our road trip so far, taking over 6 hours including stops. The scenery was nice through the Marlborough region, and along the scenic coastal drive. Our favorite part, however, was outside of Kaikoura.

Looking down at the rocks along the water, I thought I saw a seal. Upon closer inspection, I decided it was probably just a piece of driftwood. A minute later, however, I spotted what was definitely a herd of seals. I made Sam hastily pull over for a closer look.  I've only ever seen them in the wild from a boat in the highlands of Scotland.  I've never been able to walk up to them before.

Seals

Funny

We climbed down the short cliff to get closer to them. A couple of times we got too close and they bared their teeth, causing me to squeal and run away. Not that I was being chased; the seals were too lazy for pursuit.

Kristen & the seals

The highlight was discovering the baby seals, clustered in a small group with some females.

Baby seal

Baby seal nursing
Baby seal nursing

Sleepy

The Christchurch region is also supposed to be a great place for whale watching and swimming with dolphins, and even spotting penguins, of which New Zealand has 6 species. I'm going to keep our zoom lens handy and hopefully we'll see some more wildlife.

8 comments:

Rosa said...

Those babies are cuuuute!

Jeannie said...

What a nice surprise to see along the way! Better watch out getting so close. It's NOT a zoo with barriers! Wild animals, Darlin'!

Labear said...

what a once in a life time photo moment love all the pics thanks

Johnnie B said...

What spectacular photographs! Especially the baby seals!! Love 'em!

wishful nals said...

gorgeous photographs! so happy to be able to follow along on your adventure. :)

Kristen said...

Thanks, everybody! I'm glad you are enjoying the posts as much as I'm enjoying sharing them. :)

glen said...

Kristen and Sam , i love to see your posts, i check them out daily on this new google plus, it is nice to see posts from someone there not just a travel page, Hope you are enjoying your year of endless spring and summer. take care glenn

Kristen said...

Thanks, Glenn! It's good to hear from you. :)