Kaikoura

We are enjoying this town so much we decided to stay for our third night! Kaikoura sits on a peninsula with the snowcapped Seaward Kaikoura Range rising, as if from the ocean, behind it. When we arrived it was cloudy and raining but we woke up to a gorgeous sunny day yesterday so we went for a hike along the coast and cliffs of the Kaikoura peninsula. We climbed up hills from which we could see whales spouting in the distance and seals on the rocks below us.
On the way back along the coast to town we stopped at a little BBQ seafood vendor and tried paua (abalone) fritters and whitebait fritters for our first time, and some great seafood chowder. Afterwards, the boys, including Nigel as usual, played tag at the coolest park in NZ so far!
Today we skyped our families, got haircuts and then went to a very small, non commercial sheep shearing show, to watch the sheep get haircuts too! It's amazing how much wool comes off these animals!
The best part of the day was watching the baby seals play in the waterfall at Ohau up the coast from here! Hundreds of baby seals too young to go out into the ocean, clamber up this fresh water stream about 300 meters, over rocks and logs to reach the pool at the bottom of the falls. In the waterfall pool there must be at least 30 baby seals. They play, swim, jump, twirl, twist, fight, all the time skillfully avoiding collisions. They are so fun and happy it just makes you smile.