Kaikoura to Kaiapoi

Thursday 9 October

After watching the super moon rise, I set my alarm for 6.30am so we could check out the morning’s sunrise. The moon was still visible in a perfect pastel sky, over the far side of the bay. The pinks and peaches and lilac undertones of the sky at this hour were absolutely stunning.

Louis and I walked over to the wee bay just round the corner and watched as the sea, sky & clouds oscillated through a kaleidoscope of rainbow colours. Back in July, this beach was littered in shiny, opalescent paua shells, but most had either been fossicked or washed away. Louis found a long thin almost weightless bone - bigger than a chopstick but light as air - I wonder who is belonged to and what it was? My favourite moment was meeting a couple of Welsh travellers on the beach too - one was wearing a Pachamama jersey in the reverse colouring to mine - we had a chat, she had bought it at an op shop for $60 which is quite a bargain for one of these sweaters... and it was quite funny when I realised that my Pachamama daisy jersey was probably older than her (I got mine at Royal Surrey Show circa Easter 2000!)

Once we were up, it seemed churlish to go back to bed so we pottered about, went for a stroll and met the neighbours in the teardrop caravan parked next to us - turns out they were travelling with SIX dogs! Luckily they were all small, but even so....

Louis got the bikes down and set up then we headed off along the Whale Trail cycle path to the far side of the bay. It was a lovely cycling route and we enjoyed the views in the summer-like sunshine. After following the road into town, we picked up the trail just after Lyell Creek and cycled along a boardwalk behind the beach and past the Whale Way Station before dropping onto a gravel path behind the dunes. The Whale Trail will hopefully eventually run from Kaikōura up to Picton via Clarence, Kekerengu, Ward, Lake Grassmere, Seddon, Blenheim and Tuamarino, a track of 210+km which will likely take 3-4 days to enjoy in full. Currently only the top & bottom of the trail are constructed and open, with other sections in the planning or construction stages. We cycled around 12km to Lover's Lane in Hapuku and went down to have a look at the beach (which was still part of the same wide bay as Kaikōura) before turning round to cycle back. Such a lovely ride!

Enjoyed a well earned lunch back at Banjo - picnicking outside in the unseasonably warm weather. Then we packed up and hit SH1 southbound along the coast until turning in to the windy hills of North Canterbury to Woodend & Kaiapoi via a stop in Cheviot.

No dolphins spotted along the coast this time, though we did see a couple of seals and loads of seabirds. Stopped at Cheviot behind a classic retro caravan decked out in aqua and turquoise, with the most fabulous coloured checkerboard table, kitchen surface and lino floor inside! Popped into Harris Farms to get Louis a cheese scone and more of our favourite burgers, plus a pack of minty sausages to try.

Arrived at Treehouse Retreat POP late afternoon and settled in to our old spot then whizzed over to see Ella & Josh and the hoodlums for a quick hello. I got more than I bargained for as Ella was throwing out her leopard print Sunday Boho dress so I deftly caught it and wore it for the next 24 hours!

Our favourite Harris Farm burgers for dinner then I blogged until nearly midnight, while Louis snored gently through two episodes of Atomic… then I realised at 11.53 pm that I didn’t recall doing Wordle today so quickly checked in and discovered I was 7 minutes away from losing my 270 day streak! Fortunately cracked it in time to keep the streak running, phewww!