BTDU

After an early start we left our hotel c. 9am for the 130 km drive down the Pacific coast en route to Kaikōura.

With this being prime wine growing country, we were soon seeing why, with extensive vineyards on either side of the road, set against a backdrop of lush rolling hills

As we got closer to our destination we felt we were being teased by the sights of mountain ranges not too far in the distance…

Before we got that far however, we realised there was a huge seal colony just a few metres from the roadside…😊

We then drove the remaining few kilometres blessed with blue skies and c.22C with a gentle sea breeze – perfect sunburn weather!

Kaikōura is a spectacular town…

Reading this, and confirmed by a local later, the very rocks, where we had earlier seen those seals, had erupted 2 metres out of the seabed, caused by the massive earthquake in 2016; it also created a huge crater in the Pacific Highway and ripped out a section the coastal rail track… amazing how well the place has recovered.

After a wee meander into town, very much geared to the outdoor enthusiast, we took a slow stroll along the beach and got some lunch, soaking up the cultural differences 😊

C&M then preferred to return to the beach while Julie and I considered how we should best spend the rest of the afternoon…having got the ok from C&M we hurried to quickly register at our beachside hotel then leave for a short drive across the peninsula 😊

Morven had a quick dip in the ocean before we headed over to the airport as we had heard there were good opportunities to see whales from the air 😊

Turned out that our pilots only had us 4 in their 7 seater – a bonus, though the experience was more “Biggles” than “Top Gun”😉

Given that we are all Liverpool fans and have an Edinburgh post code we were delighted to see our plane was red & white and the call sign was EHS – destiny indeed!

Our pilots Tim & Jo were 1st Class and excellent at finding their “prey”…

Feeling very satisfied and exhilarated we drove back into town, had a fish supper and retired early …

So, another marvellous day in this remarkable country 😊🇳🇿