Arrived in Kaikoura

I had a rough last night. Initially I started getting anxious about returning home. The loneliness and uncertainty of solo traveling starts to wear on me, leading to unnecessary melt downs every few weeks. I like knowing I have control over my situation, and when your 20,000 miles away from home and you want to see your dog, you have little control over making that happen. This was all amplified by either food poisoning, or a repeat of the dehydration event I had on my last home visit. I only had a banana all day, and my first meal was a giant plate of green New Zealand mussels, and some very delicious homemade bread with a pint of Kaikoura lager from a restaurant/brewery called Sonic. I think this is where Lisa Melendy told me to go. I was feeling pretty good about the mussels and the beer so I decided to pop into another pub and grab a second pint of Tui IPA (a Tui is a an endemic passerine…song bird…to New Zealand, which is what attracted me to the brew). This second pint led to stomach pains which kept me up all night. The combination of stress and drinking for the first time in a month with no water in my system made last night a sleepless one, I think I slept better on the floor of the airport.

By a quarter to six I felt fine and was over the stress, and was out the door with my eggs, bacon, and French pressed coffee on my way to Albatross Encounter. I have been anticipating this trip for months now, and it was everything I expected. After signing in I met up with the only other birder on the charter, (Insert Name) from Zimbabwe. No name has been taking people into the African bush since he was 17. This was going to be his first encounter with an albatross. We then met Gary, the skipper, who carted us via van to the small aluminum outboard boat that would take us out into the Southern Ocean and into the realm of the albatross and their kin. I made sure to say hi to Gary for Roger Wolf, who leads the trips in Monterey that I used to skipper for. We both agreed that Roger is a very enthusiastic birder. This of course led to chatting about the latest Debbie Shearwater gossip (who operates a competing pelagic bird trip in Monterey).

With the help of a tractor, the boat was launched and we were out on the water before the crack of dawn. The wind was light and the seas were calm, sky was overcast. Right off the bat we had Westland and Cape Petrels on our stern, 2 new species and less than 10 minutes. We continued on a short run to the edge to the 30,000 foot canyon that snakes its way along the coast of Kaikoura, stretching all the way to Tonga in the South Pacific. Just like Monterey the drop off is where you find the highest upwelling driven food production, and it’s along this edge that you encounter those true open ocean species. And just minutes after plucking the chum bag of oily meat into the water, we had the most majestic and iconic open ocean species of them all…

As the sun pierced its golden pink rays through the clouds on the horizon, a pink billed Wandering Albatross, the largest of all the 24 named species, glided effortlessly into view landing less than a meter from our stern. I was completely overwhelmed; already we had the most impressive seabird I’ve ever seen, along with 2 new petrels. The trip just kept getting better from here. By the end of the 2.5 hour trek into the bay, we spotted a total of 5 more Wandering Albatross, New Zealand White-capped Albatross, Salvin’s Albatross, Northern and Southern (upon reviewing the photos) Giant Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, and around 10 other new species for me. The most special seabird of the day was the Hutton’s Shearwater, which is endemic to New Zealand only nesting on the alpine slopes of Kaikoura. We even watched Dusky Dolphins engage in mating behaviors, jumping in pairs along the side of the boat, and New Zealand Fur Seals basking in the now mid-day sun along the rocky islands that line the coast.

Kaikoura’s steep coastal ranges, lush riparian vegetation, and small town community atmosphere is reminiscent of the Big Sur coast, which is why I think I feel so comfortable in this place. I can see way Jessica Riggin moved here. This place has it all, uncrowded waves, numerous spectacular seabirds, whales, dolphins, and a climate that never reaches the uncomfortable upper 90’s. If I didn’t miss California so much I could move here.

I plan to spend the rest of the day relaxing, without beer this time. Tomorrow, possibly whale watching, and at some point I’ll be going on another (maybe a couple more) bird watching trips. There are still I few more albatross and petrel species that have yet to be sighted by my eyes.

Species List: Venture Offshore #1

Wandering Albatross (Gibson’s)              

New Zealand White-capped Albatross    

Salvin’s Albatross                                   

Northern Giant Petrel                              

Southern Giant Petrel                              

Westland Petrel                                       

White-chinned Petrel                               

Cape Petrel                                             

Hutton’s Shearwater                               

Buller’s Shearwater                                 

Sooty Shearwater                                  

Spotted Shag Arctic

Skua (Parasitic Jeager)

White-fronted Tern

Black-fronted Tern

Black-backed Gull

Black-billed Gull

Red-billed Gull (Silver Gull)

Australasian Gannet

Blue Penguin (Little Penguin)
Dusky Dolphin

New Zealand Fur Seal

 Photos (Top to Bottom): Wandering Albatross, NZ White-capped Albatross with Sooty Shearwater, Dusky Dolphins