Bye, bye Janne and Pia, they where off to Nelson and leave Christchurch on Thursday. Rucksacks packed with water and lunch and heads turned to the beach. Now it was high tide so the beach was much smaller and the river was not possible to cross. Big disappointment! Lunch on the hillside and back to campervan to wait for the low tide. At 3 pm we all got ready for some serious tramping. This time to Cape Farwell and the goal was to see seals and especially seal pups. From the gravel road, the track winds uphill to steep dramatic cliffs.
In the morning they warned us of the winds that may blow you off the cliffs but now it was a steady calm breeze. Still it was a bit scary to walk/climb the way along the cliffs.
In one gorge we climbed under the fence to get a better view of the seals and the seal pups. Still we where too far away from them so hope was to see seals at closer distance at Wharariki beach. 1 hour later we spotted the river, now possible to cross. The river runs in to a cave and you need a torch to really see where it runs out in the ocean.
We followed it in 20 meters but then it all got pitch dark. Around the corner a seal came crawling up the beach.
This one was grown up and looked suspiciously at us, when we where too close it barked at us. Still where are the pups we have heard so much about? Two Dutch guys we bumped into where also looking for pups, but they had no luck so far. We gave up and started strolling a long the beach. Then we spotted som people eagerly looking at something and we joined them. SEAL PUPS!!! So very cute and just at our finger tips.
Mothers goes out fishing and leave their pups swimming in the pools created by low tide. They where shy so we just sat still and watched. Klara held out her hand and one pup almost touched her, but her smell scared them off. What a memory for life!
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