Dylan du Ross, who recently left Hawke’s Bay, is sharing his travel experiences around New Zealand.

I hadn't heard much about Kaikoura, literally nothing.

Maggie gave me a rundown and off we went, completely naive about the surprises that laid ahead.

Arriving was very anticlimactic. Cloud cover hid everything, apparently excreting its dullness over Kaikoura. Huge mountains meeting with sea were non-existent.

It seemed to be a small town where not a lot was happening apart from a pebbly beach with uninviting water.

We headed to Point Kean, a place where you can see seals laying on a huge but interesting rock formation.

After my introduction to Kaikoura, I had my doubts. It started off well. There wasn't rain and the rocky landform was impressive. A crowd in the distance were pointing at something, a closer look showed my first seal of the afternoon.

I've never seen an animal care less about anything in my life. It just lies there, apathetic, for minutes. The only thing that could make a seal roll over is if the other side gets itchy, kinda like myself after a few too many garlic naans. We've all been there right?

A couple was walking further out, we followed. Hundreds of seals started popping out of nowhere. Their grey coats camouflaging them against the rock, forcing mindfulness as I stroll over, jealous of their lifestyle. They eat and they sleep – most people’s dream existence.

That, or maybe they all had a few too many last night. Who knows?

Can you see the seals?

The walk back quickly turned into a wade as our path had been taken by the sea. With no flood route, and the levels of water rising, we quickly crossed the strait. Maybe this was why so many seals were around at this time – their evening TV show, for the whole family to enjoy. My lack of travel wits was shining bright again. Ah well. It was surprisingly a well worthy adventure.

Clouds continued into the next day, and a decision was made against hiking up Mount Fyffe. We were later told that it would have been fine to do, as the clouds were only low-level clouds and up at 1602m they wouldn't be a problem. Bummer.

Instead, we sorted our lives out (by that I mean the car), went to the local Irish bar, played some cards and listened to some really talented live music. I was amazed at what I was not only seeing, but feeling. Goosebumps. It was a really good day.

Scarborough Reserve

6am. There it is again. “Aegean Sea” wakes us up. I really need to change my obnoxious alarm sound. Our head torches brighten up the situation and we drive to Mount Fyffe.

A 4x4 track made for a peaceful hike, despite the full 1602m elevation gain. I'm finding myself beginning to prefer hikes through darkness as you can't see the task ahead. Out of sight, out of mind. All you get to think about is the next step, it's nice.

We made it to a lookout point to watch sunrise, it was nice to actually be able to see it happen, rather than being blinded by thick cloud like at Mount Stoke. The sun welcomes itself in, giving colour to the environment around us. A beautiful sight indeed.

It was half tempting to finish the hike here, surely this is as good as it gets? But of course, we continued. View after view begins to hit us. Do you want huge ice capped mountains?

Look left. A beautiful view of a flat ocean meeting luscious landscape? Look right. Rolling hills that seamlessly go on forever? Look behind you... Just don't look forward because that's where the steep track is.

The worst part about the journey to the summit is the number of benches that have been placed along the way. A few serving no purpose other than an unnecessary temptation.

As the hike continued the more inviting every bench became.

If we stopped now, we knew it'd delay the hike by hours. To even think about a rest, would be a bad idea.

The summit was reached after a gruelling final 500ms of loose rocks and an acute climb. It was beautiful up there, a perfect view of everything you could want to look at.

I love how from up here, Kaikoura looks like a knot, tying two pieces of land together.

After a long morning of hiking up, and back down a mountain, a few treats were in order. The largest real fruit ice cream I've ever seen (for a standard $4.50 price) and some of the best chips/burgers I've had, really made my day.

I came into Kaikoura negatively, and didn't understand the fuss. But despite not seeing any whales, it really proved me wrong. A surprise was left at every corner. I won't be prematurely judging anything, again.

Tags

• Lifestyle