From Kaiapoi to Kaikoura

Saturday 17 January

Trekking north again - deja vue as we hit SH1 to Kaikōura en route to Blenheim to meet the Fernandi on Monday. Quick chat with John from Treehouse Retreat POP then off we trundled in dreary grey weather.

Brief pause at Cheviot - couldn't believe it when I saw a Contiki bus - these things were doing the rounds back in 1989 when I first visited NZ on my trip round the world! Also loved the roll call of contributors to the Cheviot toilets murals!

Then it was off over the hills to the coast and up to Kaikōura and the POP at The Pier Hotel. It was a muddy mess but we found a spot, parked up & had lunch in Banjo as it was still quite chilly & damp outside.

I took a walk out to the newly finished pier building - looks great, but no idea what they plan to do with it. Would make a cool wedding venue though! Loved the new tiki on his pou and had a lovely wander around the block taking in bach gardens with vibrant flowers, a metal duck who laid golfball eggs and the fascinating geology of the Kaikoura coastline, forever changed by the 2016 quake.

Louis was working on videos & music all afternoon, so I dragged him out to the seal colony before dinner - the clouds seemed stuck on the northern side of the bay and we had some blue skies and sunshine out our way as the waves crashed against the edge of the rocks.

As usual the seals did not disappoint, with heaps of them draped over the rocks and some almost posing for their fans! This one seal was a real poseur - giving me the eye, and performing yoga stretches and ablutions atop this stack of rock - I was scared he might topple off! Another fella spent ages just rolling and rubbing his head lazily against the rocks and plants - so chill!

The tectonic uplift here is incredible with slices of rock pointing skywards at all manner of jaunty angles - in one place it was pushed up like a teepee!

As well as the seals, there is a breeding colony of red billed gulls, tarāpunga and whilst they were noisy and smelly, they were such fun to watch - having a wash, drinking from a rockpool and youngsters waiting impatiently for the next feed.

This really is one of our happy places!

Back to Banjo for dinner as our budget is rather blown this month… oops! Don’t tell Deborah about the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil - she would not approve!