The next day it was almost windless. There was a slight swell. A beautiful day for whale watching. Once we’d arrived at the spot where the Captain thought the whales would surface we stepped out of the main cabin to search for spouting plumes.

I believe that this is the only photo of a very rare sperm whale feather taken on this trip. It is the most interesting screenshot from a 12 minute long video mostly recorded in my shorts pocket.

We probably waited for half an hour before a spout was sighted, fairly close to us, so we were the first of the whale watch catamarans to get into position. The whale was on the surface for about 5 minutes then dove back down to the depths for another squid fest.

Most days there are two whales around Kaikoura, which is why they can almost guarantee a sighting. The whales spend an average of 45 minutes below the surface, so most visitors will only get to see one or two in the 2 hour trip.

About 5 minutes later I spotted the spout from the other whale. This time there were 3 whale watching cruises surrounding the whale.

You don’t get the most exciting video from an iPhone SE at 100 yards.

After lunch, back at the motel, we set out for a walk around the peninsula. It was a hot day and Susan didn’t fancy the climb, and we didn’t realise it was possible to walk around the shoreline so she chose to return to the car and drive to the Point Kean car park. I arrived a few minutes after her. Then we went on a seal hunt.