It wasn't really a very auspicious start to our south island adventure. We debarked the ferry in the rain and started walking over to the building across the road to pick up our rental car. The route over to the door was a little circuitous and as we walked the rain started getting a little 'more'. Fortunately, there was a roof over the walkway in front of the car rental part of the building, because more and more rain started falling, and there was a line out the door. And one experienced person and one who had just started working inside.
After about a 30-minute wait, I finally got up to the counter. I wish I could say that everything went quickly and smoothly from that point on ... but it wouldn't really be true. It took about another 20-30 minutes to actually be holding the keys in my hand. At that point, I went out in the now-pouring rain to start the car and bring it to the closest place from which to move the luggage to its trunk.
I got wet. Lisa got wet. But then, we were finally in the car, on our way to Kaikoura for a couple of days. The rain started letting up as soon as we made it to the main road (Murphy's Law anyone?) and then it was fine. Soon the sun was peeking out of the clouds and we were beginning our approximately 150km drive through lovely scenery. From Picton, we headed toward Blenheim (in the Marlborough wine country). We started seeing the foothills of the Southern Alps in the distance, and we then found ourselves driving along the coast. Eventually we were between shingled beaches on our left and the Kaikoura mountains on the right. The issue with being the driver is that if one actually wants to make progress, one can't be stopping every 20 or 30 seconds to take more pictures. But they still inhabit my mind; I can pull them up at will. Just a few pics here:
We were staying at a place called The Fairways at Ocean Ridge in Kaikoura (and what a cute little town!). The stand-alone units all contained an apartment and a studio. We were booked into the studio. It was barely large enough for 2 twin beds, and small (desk) table and a chair. There was no closet, not really any room for suitcases, and two people could not pass each other in any of the floor space. Very nice, but not big enough for two people all. We spoke to the person who checked us in, and asked if there was any possibility of moving to one of the apartments. There wasn't for that first night, but she said she could for the next night and we said "GREAT!!!".
It turned out that the apartment, one-bedroom, with a large open concept living/dining/kitchen area and even laundry facilities in a closet near the bedroom, still had a pretty small bedroom. But a much, much more livable arrangement. One really nice touch at The Fairways (which had no restaurant) is that breakfast is included, delivered to one's room. Two options, hot or cold. The food was plentiful, very good, and a great start to the day. We went to a local restaurant for dinner, and then settled in for the evening.
The next morning (Sunday, 27 October) we headed over to do a half-day whale-watching cruise. I hadn't known that Lisa had never been on a whale-watch. I'm not sure if she will ever go again. Not because a bad experience, but because it was an amazingly good experience - and she might be spoiled now. I have never seen anything like it before.
We started in town, and it was about a 40+/- minute ride to the area in which the crew expected we might see something.
We spotted a humpback whale almost immediately. Over the next (probably) about 30 minutes or so, the whale breached 22 times!! The crew of the boat was keeping track, and we all just unbelieving! The crew said the afternoon cruise the day before didn't see much action at all. When the whale finally disappeared, we moved over to another area about 15 minutes away. And behold - another humpback. This one didn't breach, but it kept doing tail slaps. There were probably about a dozen or more tail slaps in the next few minutes.
After that, we also saw some other sea life including dolphins. So much activity! We had seen a forecast saying it might start raining about 1:00pm, but the weather held until we returned to solid ground. Overall, it was a completely amazing experience.
We did a little gift shopping in the center of this small town and then headed back to our hotel. And, first time (for me, anyway) in ages, ended up ordering a pizza. Just a lovely day.
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