Ian's Place: The Brave Little Fur Seal of Kaikoura.

The Kaikoura peninsula lies on the east coast of South Island, New Zealand, running several kilometres into the Pacific. The views from there are terrific, to the north across the bay the Kaikoura Mountains rise almost sheer from the coast, snow-topped in October; the high peaks are at 2600m. To the south the cliffs and beaches stretch away to the horizon. The day I was there the weather was fine and sunny, the Pacific Ocean deep blue, flecked with small white horses. It was low tide, and the rocks were exposed: the resident seal colony lounged on the rocks and beaches, basking in the sun. After a while I spotted a young seal swimming to shore, looking for a place to land. Perversely, he chose a very steep and, I guess, slippery rock as a slipway. The sequence of photos shows his comical antics to achieve the crest of the rock.