Pastel Sunrise, Seals, Chores & A Bumpy Ride

Monday 8 June

One of those mornings when the outside world seeped into Banjo - bathing the walls and ceiling in a rosy pink glow. I jumped out of bed, pulled on some layers and took the camera out to capture the sunrise. The whole of Ingles Bay and Kaikōura town were swathed in a purply pink pastel hue - so serenely beautiful.

The sun popped over the horizon shortly after and the reflected imagery & light on the local architecture only served to amplify its beauty. Spotted a seal beside the boat ramp, stocking up on its solar and recharging its batteries… it remained there all day until nightfall! The posts by the wharf and boat ramp were popular with the local starlings and gulls who flew in and out all morning.

Louis decided to cycle off to Mt Fyffe (Rakihouia) as the pool was closed for winter so swimming was off the cards; he set off on a 40km loop to the carpark at the base of the mountain while I took the linen & other washing in to Liquid Laundromat. Dropped off a few surplus items at the SPCA op shop next door and came away with a half price T-shirt which was a fair trade!

Liquid Laundromat should give me a job explaining to older couples how the card payment works and how to add $1 of extra time to the dryers before their time runs out and you have to pay in full again if your laundry is not dry - today was not the first time and is unlikely to be the last! Louis met me at the laundromat just as the drying finished so we folded everything up and then tootled down the road to Sime’s Kitchen for lunch. It was so warm we sat on the deck in the sunshine for our truffle mushrooms (Louis) and seafood chowder (me) - more like late summer than early winter!

We were sad that Shadow’s table was no longer on the lawn… when we looked after Jessie & Shadow in 2024 we stopped here on the drive back up to Auckland and Louis left me wrangling both hoodlum hounds while he ordered coffee and lunch… he came out to find Shadow up on the table and the couple on the deck watching in fits of laughter as I tried to control him & Jessie… it was messy! 🐕‍🦺🐕‍🦺

Back at Banjo I took a stroll round the wharf, checked on our boat ramp seal and found two more out by the new building!

Then we hopped in ELLAMY and headed inland to walk up to the lookout on the Mt Fyffe track.

It was a bit steep and a bit chilly, I got grumpy and the hill seemed to go on forever - so seeing the rain sweeping up the coast towards us, we turned back before even reaching the lookout and took the 4WD route home across a river! Taking a detour on Kowhai Ford Road, it wasn't exactly a ford - this was the widest river crossing we’ve yet encountered… usually it’s just 3-4m of stream to cross not 100m of braided river bed, several streams and a fast flowing main river in our way!

Pork meatballs for dinner then an admin evening as we sorted future diaries and itineraries - our plans to head on up the coast changed due to the stormy conditions forecast for the next day or two.