The track makes a loop at the end of the Kaikoura peninsula. There’s a good map and description at the New Zealand Dept of Conservation website. You can do the loop in either direction. We did it counter-clockwise starting at our hotel just south of town on the coast. Tom’s Track takes you across the peninsula to South Bay, first through woods and then across fields.
Once in South Bay, follow the main road along the shore to the beach at the end where the trail picks up. The entrance is obvious (and pretty cool). There are restrooms and other facilities at the park.
The first views are of the cliffs to come and rock ridges in the water. Also some ducks the day we were there.
The surface of the path changes along the way. It’s paved at both ends and in the middle changes between gravel, dirt, and grass. It was never hard to find the trail. There are some short offshoots to (even more) scenic lookouts.
The walk follows the edge of the cliffs so views are great even without the offshoots. Lots of rocky bays and blue water, with mountains in the distance. Apparently it’s great in winter when the mountains are snow capped. There are some places where you can make your way down the cliff to the shore.
We didn’t take this option, but there’s a lower path that follows the shore. You can use that path to make a loop of the upper and lower trails.
As we approached Point Kean at the other end of the trail we started seeing fur seals. There’s a colony that lives here. From a distance they reminded me of well, turds. All those little brown blobs are seals.
Close to Point Kean you can get out on the rocks with the seals. They have nice informational signs about the seals and how close you should get. Apparently some people ignore those signs.
From the carpark at Point Kean you follow the road — there’s a wide walkway alongside — back to the town of Kaikoura. If you’re short on time (or energy) you could just do and out-and-back from Point Kean to see the seals and the view from the cliff top.