Once again, reluctant to leave our lovely Blenheim, it was time to head south. The road led to Kaikoura, home of crayfish, wales, dolphins and seals and turquoise sea. Also the site of a tremendous earthquake just a year ago, the road was only just opened after 12 months of hugely complicated repairs. You can still see where the road buckled and huge swathes of rock simply slipped into the ocean…
Stopping at The Store for a drink and the view, within two hours we reached Kaikoura. It was motel time. And full on old school motel style. String vested receptionist, shabby, noisy and aged…. but we rather liked it it! Just how a motel should be. And yet another picnic spot with a ridiculous view. NZ is a past master in this. Worthy of a specific blog post, no less.
A walk down the beach and swim was then followed by an extraordinary windswept walk around the rocky skirts of the cliffs to the south, a veritable lunar landscape inhabited by hundreds of seals, absorbing in the last delicious rays of sunshine before sunset.
Dinner was some of the best crayfish we’ve ever eaten- worthy of Kaikoura’s crayfish fame- before an unruly arrival back to our grand motel ready for our early dolphin awakening….
