Kaikoura to Christchurch - 21st

Woke up at 7am. It had stopped raining and I had a nice breakfast on Lazy Shags veranda. Took a walk a long the beach to Kaikoura point. Hundreds of Hutton's Shearwaters were foraging off shore, saw several distant albatrosses, a few Giant Petrels vloser to shore and at least five differant scholls of Dusky Dolphins, of which one contained about 100 dolphins and they played and breached for about half an hour. A joyful sight indeed. Along the shore were Little, Spotted and Pied Shags, Variable Oystercatchers and White-faced Herons.

At 12:30 I boarded the bus to Christchurch. The bus-ride took about three hours and Colin Meurk were there to meet me. We went to Riccarton Bush in centre on Christchurch and saw Grey Gerygone, Tomtit and Tui. Next stop were Travis Wetland were we saw several Grey Teals, New Zealand Scaups and the more usual birds sucha as Paradise Shelduck, Spur-winged Plover, Australian Shoveler, Pied Stilt and so on. We went to a few more laggons in the area a couple of hundred of New Zealand Scaup, a pair of Australian Coots, many Grey Teals, hundreds of Oystercatcthers and 50 Bar-tailed Godwits. When the sun was about to set we drove to a ice-hockey rink were Colin's daughter Christine were to play a ice-hockey match. Kind of strange, going to NZ and watch a hockey match, which ended 4-4. Finally, we got to Colin's house in late evening and in the little house were I gonna stay for the night were two beautiful cats, one Korat and one Russian Blue. Nice, as a miss my own two cats. Skeffy the Korat, were a darling indeed and he slept under the quilt with me. I slept well all night.


A beautiful Pied Shag at Kaikoura.



A NZ Fur Seal at Kaikoura, where several colonies is to be found.



A pair of the endemic Paradise Shelduck, male (left) and female, at Travis Wetland.



Ice-hockey match in Christchurch. Quite an experience.



The beautiful darling Korat cat Skeffy (actually taken in morning the day after).