Friday, 18 February

We're on the road again but today only for 1.5 hrs for the relatively short drive from Blenheim to Kaikoura. This was a very scenic drive with the road hugging the coast at sea level for most of the journey.

Lots of things in NZ are back to front from the UK, we've seen sunflowers in bloom, people here want a North facing garden and the North wind is the one that brings warmer weather. At this time of year when back home in England the snowdrops and crocuses will be flowering, here there are agapanthus everywhere growing wild and also planted naturally like we would plant daffodils. We're heading South which in the UK would normally mean warmer weather but inevitably in the Southern hemisphere means colder weather, having said that daytime temperatures are still in the low twenties and this evening it was bright, sunny and pleasantly warm.

It was our intention to go whale watching for which Kaikoura is famous but due to lack of time we've had to give it a miss. This is one of the downsides of this kind of holiday.

Our accommodation in Kaikoura is an apartment that is a little out of the town close to the beach with views of the bay. This afternoon we went to Point Kean on the peninsula only a mile or so from where we are staying to see a seal colony. One seal was sleeping on the boardwalk oblivious to all the people around! It was surprising how close they were. As well as being able to see the seals there were some stunning views of the “Seaward Kaikoura Range of mountains” in the distance and the very rugged coastline around here.

Kaikoura is very popular with backpackers and there are a lot of young people around which is making us wonder how Julia's Georgia and Alex are getting on and, if Julia is reading this, where they are?

Right next door there is a really old fashioned cinema using 1940s projection equipment. We would have loved to have gone to but the film on tonight is a sort of runaway train thriller which isn't our type of film! Instead we have borrowed a copy of The Whale Rider DVD which is a story about New Zealand and Maori traditions and will be staying in! From our bedroom which is at the back we can hear the film though!!