I had dim memories of the limestone caves of Kaikoura from perhaps 30 years previously; since then I had meant to stop there time and time again, but the tour times never quite lined up with ferry arrivals or departures. This time I took special care to add a day for the visit.
The caves - under limestone cliff known as Maori Leap - aren’t heavily advertised. There’s a seemingly pointless cafe in the middle of nowhere1
An unplanned stop with magic: the waterfall with baby seals. The whole experience is quite wonderful, but perhaps the most remarkable sight utters that of forest-dwelling seals: the pups haul themselves out of the water and up step slopes that are a challenge for a primate, perching on the hillsides.
“May I pat them?”
“maybe can be cat? Maybe can be dog?”
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Ok, a few kilometres out of Kaikoura. Not quite the same thing. ↩︎