Kaikoura & Blenheim

This morning we awoke in the most beautiful setting , we were on the beach with great views of the mountains and right on the sea. We had agreat sleep and drove straught to the public toilets to get changed andhave a wash etc. The parking allows 60mins , the blue sign with P and number underneath tells you how long in each spot.

We then drove to whale watch five mins away and ate our sandwiches before we needed to check in at half ten. Parking is free outside whale watch. Wheb we went to check in at the desk, we found it was cancelled !! The sea was too rough for us to travel out to and the 715am tour had come back with no whale sightings so got a refund. They were offering a bay tour where it was hoped to see albatrosses, seals and dolphins and was $65 pp. We did that instead abd had a whale of a time - pardon the pun. You get a safety briefing first, then a coach takes ypu 5 mins to the harbour to get on the large boat. If you suffer from sea sickness, sit at the back and take stugeron tablets - these are excellebt fir travel sickness.

We went out onto the top deck when told , the boat would stop when they saw something, we got to see a group of dolphins for around an hour and some seals on the rocks for 30mins , we also saw a range of albatrosses and had a wealth of info given over the tannoy by the woman group tour guide.

It was well worth the money and got some great photos, it was sooi cold out on the dek so we sar in their cafe for coffee and cake at $6 pp which was great value for money. Then we decided to have two of their homemade saus rolls and sharw chips as we know how big their portions are !! This came to$12 for both. It was gorgeous too !! It also had free wifi so i could send our postales.

We then went on a drive up the peninsula and couldnt believe our eyes. The seals were in the car park , close enough to touch. But dont , as they carry many diseases such as pneumonia and physillis!! But they had pups with them and were just sleeping all over the car oark. It was great to be so close, but we did get too close when trying to take our postale pic and one hissed at us !!

We then made a sharpish exit and took a look around the souvenir shops which were nice but expensive. Once done, we set off to Blenheim, got some petrol on the way $50 worth which took us upto 3/4 now . We have stopped at burger king for cheap food on their saver menu which is very cheap and it has free wifi. Bonus !!

We update when we can but you are fully upto date now. We need to find a camp now ready for the ferry in the morning at Picton 1045am. We had to print our ferry voucher. ISIC card got us student disc and the spaceship is classed as a car (not a campervan) so we get the ferry for $222 for both of us, whale watch printed this for us as there is no internet cafe in Kaikoura so bear that in mind. It was very kind of them.

Night all

S&L xx