Nelson to Kaikoura

No need for an alarm this morning as the rain is hammering on the roof waking us up.  But as we pack and have breakfast, the rain clears and just leaves an overcast bright day.

A view on the way

Today we drive to Kaikoura, through the beautiful fiord lands around Picton,  then down along the coast to Kaikoura.   We stop at a view point on the way and are joined by one of New Zealand's native birds, the Weka Bird which is flightless and rather curious and doesn't seem to mind getting quite close.

Weka Bird

A theme is developing as we drive everywhere,  Maria keeps saying that the cows are smaller here and I keep pointing out that they might just be far away. She is adamant they are smaller. Its like being trapped in a Father Ted sketch.

The land down from Picton is a mass of rolling hills.  It looks like a parched telly tubby land if the telly tubbies made a lot of wine.  We stop at a nice little place in Ward, and Maria confuses the poor chap in there by telling him that she doesn't eat meat and what has he got that she could eat.  Eventually they negotiate down to a salad.

Pining for the fiords

More scenery

We drive along the black beaches of the coast here and we head towards Kaikoura.  We don't need sat-nav as Kaikoura is the place over there under it's own cloud (later on the TVweather tells us every where else has sun..except us). It's tipping down as we drive into the town and attempt to find our boutique B&B - The Lemon Tree Lodge.  Eventually we find the place, a series of lovely little rooms set in some landscaped grounds.

We check in then take a drive down to the Seal Colony at the end of the town - its easy to find you just follow the sign posts.  There aren't many seals about, and after I check the shore line Maria asks me if I have found any.  I reply no...apart from the one you are standing next to!  The seals seem to spend their time lazing about and looking at the tourists.  I think there might be a sign under water for seals that says "Tourist Colony".

Another hard day being a seal

Time for a scratch

In the evening we head out into the town and find a really nice restaurant that seems to do massive plates of food.  My chicken satay featured about a pound of chicken on each stick. 

Then it was back to the B&B and a chance to bemoan the poor state of NZ TV! We can't get away from Dickenson's real deal !