Kaikoura, land of the Crayfish

Kaikoura

Kai - Food and Koura - Crayfish was our next destination after a short, tiring and nightly crossing by ferry to the South Island. As we are both in NZ with a working Visa we decided to do a woofing stay in a vineyard. WOOFing, which we were later told means Working On Organic Farms, nowadays means working a few hours a day in exchange for accomodation and food. After sleeping in the car for several weeks, it is a nice change in having a small private room with all the comfort included. On the other hand, working 4 hours a day in a vineyard with either face to the ocean and back to the mountains or otherwise back to the ocean and face to the mountain, most of the days with around 25 degrees, didn't proof that terrible at all. Our job consisted in wire hanging, meaning taking the grape branches and hang them on the steel wires so that grapes get as much exposure to the sun as possible and no mildew builds up under the leaves. The experience was even nicer as our stay was on a farm surrounded by a bucolical quietness, sheep, peacocks, chicken a sheep dog and a very nice land lady.

Uno de los objetivos del viaje largo, ademas de conocer otros lugares, conocer otra gente, otras culturas... otros idiomas, era poder trabajar en algo que sea totalmente distinto a lo que veníamos haciendo estos últimos 5 anos en Chile. Siempre habíamos hablado de trabajar en un campo o con animales, y bueno... encontramos un trabajo bajo el sistema Woofing (trabajar un par de horas al día a cambio de alojamiento y comidas) en una vina, en la que ademas estábamos rodeados de ovejas, gallinas, pavos reales y un perro ovejero. (Wilson) 

Por lo general empezábamos a las 8am y al medio día ya estábamos libres para irnos a conocer Kaikoura. Este lugar en la Isla sur, es muy turístico por las ballenas y delfines. 

We would spend most of our mornings doing the work early in the vineyard so we would be ready for a picnic lunch on the beach or on one of the cliffs and spend the afternoon doing magnificent beach and coastal walks or just relaxing and fishing. The Kaikoura peninsula has the particularity of having very deep canyons very close to the shore which pushes up the ice cold nutrient rich waters and which makes the place home to giant sperm whales, NZ fur seals, Dusky dolphins and Hector's dolphins, crayfish, octopus, stingrays etc etc. One of the highlights of our Kaikoura stay was a whale watching trip which was postponed several time due to strong winds and rough seas. Having been on a boat for several times now, I deemed I was fit and it was unnecessary to take seasick pills. Nevertheless, the several postponements and reiterated warnings made us go to the local pharmacist for his special potion famous with the locals. Fortunately, as we saw 3 magnificent sperm whales, roughly 10 dolphins, 3 albatros and bunches of vomiting Germans, Japanese, Australians and French. I will come back on the wildlife.

Hicimos caminatas por toda la costa de Kaikoura (aprox 12 km), donde pasamos por playas preciosas, con el agua transparente, colonias de gaviotas, colonias de focas y lobos de mar. 

Una de las mejores tardes fue cuando fuimos a un tour que nos llevaba a un avistamiento de ballenas, por lo general pronosticaban que podíamos ver 1 o 2 ballenas a lo mucho, pero ese día vimos 3 ballenas y muchísimos delfines que nadaban alrededor de ellas. 

Fueron 9 días en Kaikoura, donde disfrutamos trabajar en la vina (el trabajo no era duro, pero si un poco agotador cuando nos tocaba un día soleado) era bueno tener comida hecha en casa... después de haber estado varios días comiendo enlatados o ensaladas a la rápida, un día me toco dar de comer a los animales que habían en la vina, y otro día nos toco ir a una feria mercado de productos de la zona, para vender los vinos de la vina donde trabajábamos. 

Wildlife wise, Kaikoura was a fascinating place. The giant sperm whale to start with, is the biggest toothed whale only threatened by the orca (or from there the name killer whale) and humans of course. He feeds on sharks and big fish which he detects through its sonar and it is even said he crushes the body structures of these animals with the low frequency sounds he emits. He dives for 30 to 60 minutes to depths of up to 3000m and manages depth and pressure by solidifying or liquifying resins in his head and then comes to surface to breath or aerate his blood. I can go on with these facts but I wont bore you with more except for this one. The giant sperm whale eats sharks, even whites, and big fish and giant octopus, nevertheless he is harmless to humans and to dolphins which annoy him during his breathing pause. The guide told me that apparently they have some ethic which makes them not eating mammals. I find this fascinating and incredibly human, an impression which also the dolphins would later give me.

Clear blue waters and a bright sky, no big waves and favorable wind, perfect conditions for some spearfishing. Just one detail, what about the seal colony and a secondary thought, is a seal not the preferred item on the menu for a white shark? A Kiwi grin, a "they scare the shit out of you but are harmless" to the first question and an even bigger grin with a "not that I know of" to the second question, gave me just enough courage to get the wetsuit and the leadbelt on. The fishing was fascinating and I sometimes would forget that I was after fish. Big octopus, beautiful fish, anemones, crabs, stingrays and incredible underwater flora all in close up. I became real ecstatic when on the last day I caught my first lobster (3 hours before unaffordable in town due to Chinese market pressure on the lobster prices), unfortunately it was undersized and it had to be put back.