So long since we last made a post...... We forgot all about it!

OK so it's about 20 days since we last posted on the blog, no we haven't died or anything like that. As we left Wellington this time around I think we had seen more to appreciate in the city so on our way back we may spend another day there. We have however traveled across the water to the South Island on 23-9-15 it was uneventful, at least for anyone who doesn't get sea sick but for those that do like Sarah it was a bit bumpy. The Cook Strait was calmer than in the preceeding days but still had 4 metre high swells. 

 

The South Island had also been suffering from heavy rainfall just like Wellington but here the rivers had burst there banks and the area around Picton was in flood. Thankfully we were driving away from the area so it just made for interesting viewing as we passed through. Blenheim was our first stop with its vast wineries, museum and art gallery. We spent a couple of days in White Bay about 20km outside of Blenheim lulled to sleep each night by the sea and during the day traveling to and from Blenheim.

Next we headed south to Kaikoura on the islands east coast. Last time when we passed through this region on the bus it was so beautiful we knew we had to come back and see more of it. The beaches are naturally black due to volcanic stone being ground into black sand and there are large black shiny smooth pebbles all over the beach. There were some firsts for us in the area as well, we had one of those lovely fresh fruit ice creams, yes the weather had turned hot so ice cream was on the menu, then we spent time camping and hanging around with the grey fur seals who had a brood (not sure if that's the correct term) of cute pups, walked around the coast viewing exquisite deep blue Pacific Ocean surf on one side while on the other side our backdrop was the massive Kaikoura mountain range with its snow capped summits, on the last day in the area we camped at an Irish pub called Donegal House with the biggest log fire and our first roast dinner since November of last year (spuds, yorkshire's, gravy and even mint jelly) unfortunately everything closes so early here we were the last ones out at 8:30pm. Finally to top it off as we were leaving Kaikoura Sarah saw her first whale in fact within 90 mins we had seen four of them, happy, happy days. This was the one thing Sarah had been waiting to see for months.  

Grey fur seals taking there ease

Camping by sea and sky near Kaikoura

Then we headed inland to Hanmer Springs via Cheviot to spend a couple of days walking in the hills and mountains around Hanmer finishing off with a dip in the famous hot springs. Before heading back towards the coast and Christchurch.