Christchurch to Picton

We left Christchurch heading for Picton and the ferry over to the North Island.  Our route took us up along the coast past some lovely beaches and little holiday towns that were just beginning to emerge from winter.

After lunch at Kaikoura we headed off to see the nursery for the  fur seals’ cubs.  Just further along the coast is a little stream at Ohua and the female seals leave their cubs at the mouth of this stream while they go out to sea to feed.  The adolescent seals take the little ones up to the “nursery” which is a little pool under a waterfall. There are no predators there so they are perfectly safe, although having watched a couple of the wee cubs negotiate the rocks in the stream bed I wondered what is “safe?” Anyway they stay up there until they begin to miss their mums when they come back down to the coast.

 Adolescents and wee ones at the mouth of the stream(look hard and you’ll see them)

 Having fun - the green spot is a tennis ball that someone must have thrown in.

  Why are those people staring at me while I’m enjoying the sun?