Kaikoura- New Year's Day

 I woke early on New Year's Day, slipped out of the backpacker's hostel as quietly as I could, and drove down towards the seal colony. Someone had used stones to mark the onset of 2011....

I spent a whole two hours down at the Seal Colony, before too many other people had even arisen. There weren't very many seals resting here, though this one gave a good yawn; but the tide was low, and the rock pools were exposed.

There was an abundance of Neptune's Necklace (or as I learned in my NZ Flora paper- Hormosira banksii.)

There was an abundance of kelp in the lower tidal area

 a variety of shellfish in the quiet pools,

 and various algae.

And all the time I was aware of the remarkable setting Kaikoura has, with the mountains rising close by.

The previous evening I had enjoyed fish and chips on the beach, and took many photographs of the seagulls that tamely waited nearby, hoping for some throw-outs. The seagulls seem so very used to humans, and don't seem to be afraid of them.

But of all the seagull shots I took, this is my favourite one, in the carpark at the Seal Colony, where this bird was drinking from a puddle on the tarmac.