There She Blows!…I mean…There He Blows!

After a restful nights sleep and a little souvenir shopping in Kairoura we went on a whale watch tour.  The weather was not as cooperative as we would have liked but the rain held off & the seas, so we were told, were relatively calm.  I was curious how Jade would do on  the boat as the other 3 kids are seasoned boaters.  The sign at the desk said for the earlier tours, “Seasickness Alert”.  Great!!!  Combined with some herbal seasickness tablets and calmer seas than expected, we had no problems in this area…whew!   Overall Jade ended up loving the boat & we were fortunate to see two sperms whales, hundreds of dolphins, and a few seals.  The sperm whales were impressive and the guide was sure to tell us that only the males swim this far south due to the cooler water.    How amazing to be so close to such a large animal.  The guide was very informative & we all learned a ton about whales!  After watching each whale take its last breath before heading deep down into the water, we got to see the classic tail shot seen in so many pictures.  Here is one of our own from the first sperm whale…

Whale #2

Between whale sightings, we got to see lots of dolphins.  They were so playful!  They were swimming all around the boat & doing an acrobatic show for us.  Almost like they were trying out for Sea World.  They loved to race the boat and often were just a few feet away from our spot near the bow of the boat.  Even though everyone goes on the tour for the whales, the kid’s favorite part were the dolphins.    We finished the day off with some great fish and chips at the local hangout, a walk along the beach, a spectacular New Zealand sunset, and feeding a hungry family of ducks at our campsite.