Pre-Harvest 3: Back to the Seaside (Kaikoura)

After hiking in Arthur's Pass, I headed towards my Airbnb/motel for a Saturday night stay in Springfield (no Six Flags in this Springfield unfortunately). The short stay was excellent, with a welcoming host, friendly neighbors from Finland, and a hot tub all to myself. Not bad for a low-cost housing option with a bed & roof, which are luxuries I wouldn't have the following night. I then drove 2-3 hours back out to the east coast of the South Island, towards a town called Kaikoura to camp for a night. Kaikoura (translated to 'crayfish' in Maori, New Zealand's native language) was a picturesque seaside town with mountains in sight and a nice walking path around its peninsula. After checking out a bustling seal colony and having a swim at one of the black sand beaches, I continued on towards my beachside campsite. Man, it was some of the clearest and most impressive stargazing areas I've witnessed (Milky Way was in fact visible). 
My first few days continued to excite me in exciting new ways, as I awoke to the sound of crashing waves and then unzipped my tent to find a pod of dolphins swimming about not far from shore (video below, if it uploaded correctly). What a treat! While in town that morning, I made friends with a Kiwi who offered to bring me on his boat to go crayfishing - I obviously accepted, but sadly the wind started to pick up and derailed his plans to fish. All good though, I got his phone number - so when Shannon comes and we visit Kaikoura to go swimming with the dolphins, Nevel will be there with his boat ready for us.











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