For the first time for a long while our sleep last night was disturbed by the sound of rain. We woke this morning to low cloud and a light drizzle. A very slow start to the day, and a very short walk on the beach.
You can see a pinkish tinge to the beach, and this is what causes it - lots of pink seaweed. I've never seen seaweed quite this shade before, and there were several varieties of this colour!
We drove down the coast towards Kaikoura until we came to a small shack selling cooked crayfish (rock lobster) and couldn't resist trying some. It was delicious and contained masses of meat. A perfect lunch on a dreary day. We latter spotted another seller closer to Kaikoura, and intend to stop there on Thursday as we are driving back to Blenheim.
Next stop was the Ohau seal colony. There is a waterfall and pool, 300m from the sea up a small creek, where seal pups have been seen playing in the past, but there were none there today. However there were a hundred plus seals on the rocks at the side of the road, most lying drying but lots of pups playing in the rock pools.
We watched this young seal pup playing on his own for a long while, then later on saw a wonderful group of about 6 pups behaving just like teenagers, following each other around and generally creating mayhem.
Leaving the seals we drove into Kaikoura and booked a whale watching trip for next Thursday morning. I also spotted a quilt shop there and bought a few fat quarters of NZ themed fabric.
The coastal road north of Kaikoura is beautiful, as all the guide books say!
We then turned inland for the drive towards Hanmer Springs. A road not mentioned in any guide books, but also wonderful for the scenery. It was very much sheep raising land, brown rounded hills interspersed with gravel bed rivers and the occasional dramatic gorge. We are now camped at a small DOC freedom site in Hanmer Springs, all ready for a trip to the spa baths tomorrow.
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