Off to Picton & North Island

One last photo in Kaikoura, me on yet another beach

The drive up the coast was spectacular but not as rugged as the western seaboard. The beaches seemed to be mainly shingle although we saw one of black sand. We passed a road sign showing sea lions or seals, that said next 4kms so they must come up on to the road. Not today though, nary a one. The coast was rocky with big swathes of sea weed washing about near the shore.
We left the shore as the road turned inland towards Blenheim. We stopped there for lunch and a bitty walk round. It started to rain as we got out of the car, but not hard enough to wear a coat, that is until we had got far enough away from the car to ensure we would be really wet. Fran wasn't really happy wandering around the shops and had his eye on his watch all the time. We had coffee in a little mall with a glass roof and read the paper and listened to the rain that had become very heavy. Fran was wanting to be off. He had swopped our Sunday 2.30pm crossing for one at 1.15 on Saturday afternoon because he had got his days mixed up and thought we were going back on Saturday. Mum and I knew it was Sunday, but hey! whatever. We weren't driving. Arrived at Picton at 11.50pm and drove straight to the port. It wasn't worth going into town as we had to be at the terminal for 12.30. It turned out we ended up sitting in the boarding lane for an hour and a half because there was some sort of unspecified problem. Never did find out what. The ship was much bigger than the one one we had arrived on and we were put on the lower deck with the lorries. Fran spotted an old sign on the wall that said P & O Portsmouth. It was a recycled ferry! It was a lot plusher than Monday's boat, we were hungry and charged off to deck 8 for some lunch. Afterwards Fran headed off to find a recliner, Mum went up on deck and I just crossed to a cumfy seat near the viewing windows and spent the three hours catching up on my diary and gazing at the scenery.

Kaikoura 13/2/10

Obviously after such an early night we were all up at the crack of dawn again. Ablutions performed, off we went for breakfast at the Encounters Cafe. We sat outside in a courtyard. It had netting over to keep the gulls away because they can be very aggressive and will steal food if it's left unattended. One enterprising soul got under the net but we chased it off. I insisted we have a beach walk before setting off again and Mum said she would accompany me. On closer inspection it was almost impossible to walk on. The shingle bank, there was no sand, shelved steeply and the shingle was difficult to walk on with or without footwear, so we settled for a couple more photos. Just look at that sky!

Kaikoura

We arrived at 6pm at the White Morph Motel, the only place Fran could get us in. It was nice on two floors, but no A/C and really, really hot after the lovely afternoon. We opened all the windows to try and get some air in but had to shut them all before we went out as the balcony ran the full length of the building and it wouldn't have been secure.It was a nice evening although a little windy. We looked at the restaurant next door also called the White Morph, but it looked a little expensive so we wandered further along the coastal road to another restaurant, that was equally as expensive. We were getting hungry though so we went and sat down. The menu however had no vegetarian choices that I wanted to eat, so we got up again and went back to the White Morph Restaurant.
In case you are wondering a white morph is a type of large seabird. My treat for dinner. It came to $237 for the meal and Mum chipped in for the coffee and liqueurs. We staggered off into the night for the (luckily) 2 minute walk to the motel. We were all shattered after the huge meal and went straight to bed. It was only 9.30!

12th February 2010

Up at 7.30am, had the remains of my curry for breakfast, heated up in the microwave. Dot picked me up and I swanned off leaving Mum & Fran to pay the bill. First Dot took me to Mona Vale house and gardens in Christchurch. It was the home of a first settler. We spent our time wandering round the rose beds and talking. Prizes were had for the most words per minute, any donkeys would have lost their hind legs. I would include a photo of Dot but she isn't mad keen on having her photo taken never mind posted on a website, so I won't. You'll just have to imagine her as drop dead gorgeous, blonde and fit. After having coffee and cake in the house we went off to the beach to Sumner Rock. This was blow out of the Port Hills when they were still an active volcano; not recently then. We walked on the beach, lovely, I love beaches. We had lunch at the Rock Cafe and Dot treated me. Then we drove over the Port Hills and stopped at the view point where I took these pictures of the wonderful view. This is the deep water port for Christchurch. The early settlers had to anchor here and port all their stuff over the top of the hills. By the time we got back to the car, it was 14.50 and I had said I would meet the terrible twosome at three, so we only just had time to rush over to Dot's via the Lyttleton Tunnel. Each year the tunnel is closed on a Sunday and a walk takes place through it. We just had time for a pot of tea at Dot's and then we left Christchurch. It was too short a stay. The day which had started out wet and miserable was now really hot and sunny, and the drive to Kaikoura was really lovely