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Last Updated on 23 May 2025
The wide angle lens on my camera comes in handy so often, but I was a bit regretful today that I didn’t have anything with a bit of zoom so I could capture the magic seals we saw today!
All the details: Kaikoura
Getting there: Kaikoura is located in the far NE of New Zealand’s South Island, a 2.5 hour drive from the Christchurch Airport or a 2 hour drive from Picton (where the Interislander ferry arrives from Wellington).
Where to stay: Pitch your tent beachfront at Kaikoura Peketa Beach Holiday Park for $18/night.
What to do: While in Kaikoura, be sure to stop and see the fur seal colony at Ohau Point and explore the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway.
Top tips: Check out this awesome list of 12 things to do in and around Kaikoura by New Zealand by Road.
As we are driving to Kaikoura to spend the night and the following day, we pass the most amazing little seal colony right off the side of the road. From the car, it’s hard to tell whether there is much activity happening in the water, but we don’t have to walk far before we see the hundreds of seals dotting the rocks and the water. There are little babies with their mother, groups of adolescent seals horsing around, and then heaps of massively fat seals just laying up on the rock doing nothing at all.
Even though we saw seals far closer when we were kayaking the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, the novelty has certainly not worn off and I’m delighted to be seeing these cute little whiskered critters again, especially in such amazing quantity. We spend ages just staring lovingly out at the Ohau Point Seal Colony.
We enjoy a nice evening in Kaikoura before waking up the next morning and taking a walk through town and up to a view point. Our time in New Zealand is quickly drawing to a close, so we are trying to squeeze every last second of beauty out of the country before we go. An easy task when you are surrounded by places like this!
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