[ back ] [ Articles Archive ]

The sun was shining but the woollies and the wind-breakers were very much part the dress code that balmy early October morning in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
The prospect of seeing our first whale was heightened the previous night though we were not quite in the mood the next morning ... not when you had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 4 am to prepare for a four-hour journey by coach from the Millennium Hotel in Christchurch.

Our guide Amy Ang had earlier sent a message to the hotel's night clerk to set the alarm at 4 am to give us time to prepare for the long and cold journey.
Those among us who did not relish the idea of waking up so early - though most, I presumed, had no great love for the sea - opted to skip the excursion, preferring instead to do some shopping while many others from the Malaysia-New Zealand Business Council (MNZBC) offered the alibi to meet their business partners in the city. The dance troupe from Sarawak Cultural Village also had to stay back for an engagement at the City Square.

The rest bound for Kaikoura were later heard to tell their friends that had they missed the trip, they would have much to regret because Kaikoura which literally means Food Crayfish had so much to offer "touristically" speaking. Its waters is one place in New Zealand where sperm whales are known to feed on the abundant squids, and from time to time surface for air - the one moment eagerly awaited by tourists.

With the majestic snow-capped Southern Alps behind us and the vast expense of the Pacific Ocean stretching in front right up to Chile, our whale watch vessel named Whakatere, (pronounced Fhakatiri) which means giant squid, eased out of the jetty, heading to a location about 10 nautical miles off the coast where 40-to-50-feet-long sperm whales surface from time to time to breathe as they go about feeding on squids lurking hundreds of metres below.

SIGHT TO BEHOLD ... After the whale-watch trip members take time to pose for a group photograph

The cetaceans come up for air every 20 to 40 minutes, spraying steams of vapours into the air as they hit the surface. A spectacle to behold, we were told. They usually stay about five minutes on the surface to restock their oxygen, supply before re-plunging into the deep.   

The waters off the Kaikoura coast is rich in marine life. It is a meeting point of the warm ocean currents from the tropic and the cold currents from Antarctica in the south, a condition conducive for plankton survival. These planktons are food for bigger marine life and on top of the food chain are the sperm whales which feed on squids. Kaikoura is also unique in that the continental shelf is very close to shore and anyone wanting to go on a whale watch need not venture too far out to sea. Kaikoura is actually where the mountains meet the sea.

Apart from ours, there was another whale watch vessel in the area. In- fact, before we started out, one boat was just returning from a whale watch trip.

"Very popular this whale watch," our guide said. He revealed that on a good day, not fewer than seven trips were conducted.

"More can be arranged but too many boats and too frequent trips will scare away the whales. We have to somehow strike a balance between chasing the tourist dollar and saving the environment."

While on the lookout for tell-tale signs of a whale's impending presence, our pilot suddenly received a message from the other boat, indicating that a whale was about to surface in the vicinity. Our vessel headed to the spot. There was much excitement and we were told to ready our cameras. But alas, when we arrived at the spot, the whale had dived ... after "lepak" on the surface for sometime.

Only Dato Sri Abang Johari, who was leading the excursion, the Mayor' of Christchurch, Gary Moore and Pauline Tang (MNZBC) managed to catch a glimpse of the tail as the giant of the ocean plunged into the deep.

Our pilot informed us it would be between 20 and 40 minutes before the whale came up for air again. We could not wait that long as our pilot had received word of a storm brewing only five minutes from us.

"When it strikes, the waves can be very high and visibility poor. Such conditions are dangerous for whale watching," our pilot explained.

We left the area, watching sea birds feeding on the ocean surface and albatrosses cruising by as our boat chugged along. Naturally, we did not take any picture of a whale What we did instead was posing for a group photograph on the top deck.

The Kaikoura excursion was part of the itinerary for the Tourism Minister who was leading a Trade and Tourism delegation to New Zealand from September 30 to October 10. Travelling with him ere senior officials from the Tourism Ministry, the Sarawak Tourism Board, the cultural troupe from Sarawak Cultural Village and members of the Malaysia-New Zealand Business Council.
 

Tourism and the environment
Back in the warmth of the Kaikoura tourism centre, it was souvenir-hunting for some while others had coffee before attending a briefing by senior officials from the New Zealand Tourism Board and Association of Travel Agents New Zealand.

We were told by the officials how delicate their jobs were in trying to strike a balance between tourism and the environment.

The importance of tourism to the New Zealand's economy is deeply etched in the public mind. Reports, forecasts and strategies on tourism have driven home a common message - New Zealand has an exceptional "visitor product" to offer and the potential for economic growth is almost boundless.

From half a million visitors in 1963, tourist numbers have. increased to almost two million annually. s many as 3.25 million are expected by 2010.
The industry contributes more than NZ$11.7 billion (RM21 billion) to the economy each year and brings in 16 percent of export receipts - almost higher than the meat industry. The government, in turn, collects about NZ$80 million in GST (govt sales tax) windfall a year.

But has it attained maturity? Can the industry provide the high quality 100 per cent pure experience that it touts to' customers overseas? Tourism leaders make no bones about achieving their goals. They still want more tourists ... and for them to stay longer. An ambitious approach, considering the pressures already starting to emerge in the most popular tourist destination.

Kaikoura - a sea-swept town of 2,760 residents and which can be likened to a lab for studying the effects of tourism in New Zealand, handles more than one million visitors each year and places enormous pressure on rate-payers.

Tourism researchers such as Professor David Simmons of Lincoln University, are becoming increasingly concerned that the impacts of tourism could soon cross an invisible threshold and spoil New Zealand's core visitor experience. 

He was quoted as saying in the University's journal Outlook that "tourism can be the good fairy when it helps save native forests from logging but it can also ride on a broomstick when it seeks to build a hotel on a coastal reserve."

WHEN IN KAIKOURA ... The visitors being briefed on the workings of a Maori village in Kaikoura

"It's been recognised for many years that we need a planning framework that will nurture the symbiotic relationship between tourism and the natural and social environment." he added.

A key issue for the industry is volume. How many visitors are enough? According to Simmons, the tourism strategy is a bit naive because it's still in growth mode. It identifies the economic, environmental and social pressures but "I believe the social effect of tourism will be the first we feel acutely."

He observed: "Conflict is likely in places like Kaikoura where sore sectors of the community such as those who have moved into the area to retire, discover that tourism provides them with few direct benefits but some significant costs. Others argue the merits of reducing tourist numbers and focusing entirely on yield."
What of our whale watch? We did not see any whale (maybe next time) but it was an interesting outing all the same.

During the excursion, the memory of that one wintry morning in 1982 - when I shivered under the freezing cold as I crossed the English Channel from Folkestone to Oostende Belgium - came flooding back but thank God, it was not repeated in Kaikoura ... almost 20 years later.

The second part of the day was spent visiting a Maori village where we were led on a guided tour of the sprawling complex, overlooking the ocean on three sides and the snow-capped Southern Alps on the other. Rolls of films must have been shot by the time we left the place.

Our trip to Kaikoura coincided with the holding of The Kaikoura Seafest 2002, the eve of the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Held once a year, the Seafest is an opportunity for the local community to show the world its culinary delights, especially the famous crayfish (Kaikoura), other sea foods and the local wine ... lots of it. Souvenir stalk are also very popular among visitors.

We left Kaikoura with a heavy heart. There were still so much to see but time was not on our side. We did not see any whale but we had photos to prove we had been to Kaikoura, ate its crayfish and drank its wine.

Abang Johari has this to say about the Kaikoura excursion: "We can adopt the whale-watch technology for our own dolphin watch off Santubong which at present is not commercially exploited. We can also use the ||para end, no continuation||