Kaikoura

The plan, in a nutshell is to drive down the east coast of the South Island as far as Christchurch, and then head inland down to Queenstown before working our way back to Picton via the West Coast (another of those uncreative location names inherited from Captain Cook).

Our first stop is at a place called Kaikoura. It is a Maori name that roughly translates into English as feast of crayfish, a testiment to the fabulous crayfish found in the waters surrounding the township. The rich sealife in the area also includes large a colony of dolphins and seals. Kaikoura is beloved by Kiwi scuba divers and in the last 20 years a thriving whale watching industry has developed.

It was a bit of a grey day, but Kirwin thought he'd take five on this funky public bench facing out to sea. In the background are the Kaikoura ranges, shrouded in low hanging cloud. We drove past them to get here.

On 13-Dec-2008 Kirwin makes his first visit to Kaikoura. He wasn't feeling too well so we decided not to go and watch the whales this time around.