FREE DAY TODAY!
So today we could either choose to stay in Blenheim, relax, walk around town, etc. Or we could travel with our bus drivers to Kaikoura for the day and go exploring! So we according to our bus driver Si, we could either do the cool thing or the lame thing....so what did I decide to do?? THE COOL THING! And I am so so so happy I did it! One of my favorite days so far!
FIRST STOP SEALS!!! So apparently New Zealand has some native fur seals that like to lay along the western coast line. I didn't know we were going to see seals, so when I first saw them, I got super excited! I like seeing animals in their natural habitat and not in the zoo, it's a totally different experience. They let us out of the bus, so you know I got some pictures!
Pre-Warning this post will have soooooo many pictures! ENJOY!
So today we could either choose to stay in Blenheim, relax, walk around town, etc. Or we could travel with our bus drivers to Kaikoura for the day and go exploring! So we according to our bus driver Si, we could either do the cool thing or the lame thing....so what did I decide to do?? THE COOL THING! And I am so so so happy I did it! One of my favorite days so far!
FIRST STOP SEALS!!! So apparently New Zealand has some native fur seals that like to lay along the western coast line. I didn't know we were going to see seals, so when I first saw them, I got super excited! I like seeing animals in their natural habitat and not in the zoo, it's a totally different experience. They let us out of the bus, so you know I got some pictures!
Pre-Warning this post will have soooooo many pictures! ENJOY!
Now for the next stop on the Kaikoura road trip, Si told us two things that we need to do when we get off the bus. 1) Do not read any of the signs 2) Try as hard as you can to not listen to the people coming back out of the forest. So I did exactly that...I got off and just walked straight into the forest. As we continued to go deeper and deeper into the forest I kept wondering what we were about to see. Then I saw one baby seal and I was like OHMYGOSH that is the cutest thing I have ever seen! Then a few more steps and a turn around the corner and BAM! Baby seals EVERYWHERE!! It was a seal pup nursery!!!! It was so precious! Apparently the mommy and daddy seals take their babies there so they can learn how to be seals and do seal things. Like socializing and interacting with one another, kind of like a seal school. It was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever seen. So if you didn't get enough adult seal pictures, here are some baby seals!
Now these pictures are not complete without a video!! So check this one out!! Youtube kinda killed the quality so sorry if it is pixelated...
But it just keeps on getting better!! After stopping to see the seals we actually got into the town of Kaikoura and grabbed some lunch and ate on the beach. But the beach is just a bunch of small stones, so its not as nice as our sandy beachs along the five great lakes of Michigan.
And after that incredibly amazing and exhausting day, we made our way back to the hostel and crashed! WEEK ONE COMPLETE!