We had an early start today to catch a flight to Christchurch. The car rental place was by the international terminal and the walk to the domestic terminal was probably a mile. Even though it was in the morning and still cool I was sweating by the time we got there because we were running a little late. Something we have been lucky with is the weight of baggage. Supposedly you aren't supposed to have bags that weigh more than 7 kgs. Ours definitely do…both of them. However, they never measure or weigh them, and the flights haven’t filled up so it hasn’t been a worry for us. 

We landed, picked up the car, and immediately began the drive up to Kaikoura. We were told that this is a great place to go watch dolphins and whales. The drive is about two hours, but it is one of the prettiest drives I have ever taken. There is a huge variety of natural beauty from golden fields, rows of vineyards alongside the road, rolling hills turn into mountains capped with snow even during the summer months, and finally the beaches of Kaikoura. The water is a magnificent turquoise at the shoreline turning into a deep blue farther out. It is not a sand beach, but rather one made up of smooth stones varying in size from almost the size of sand to small rocks. It was amazing standing on this beach looking out over the water and then turning to see the mountains with snow off in the distance. 

Unfortunately we were too late for the boat tours out to see the dolphins. At $90 per person I’m not sure we would have done it anyway. So we continued on up the coast for a few more miles until we came to Ohau stream and waterfall. There is a short walk from the road to the falls. It was very cold especially with the wind blowing mist off the falls. The water was raging down a drop of maybe fifty feet. The most interesting part of these falls is that seals have pups here. We only saw one mother and a pup upstream, but apparently at certain times they make their way all the way up to the falls. We did see quite a few on the shore though. Walking along the coast there were new mothers lazing around on the rocks while the little ones bothered them for food. Like all babies seal pups are ridiculously cute. 

We drove back to Kaikoura and I decided it would be a good idea to take a short nap on the beach. I quickly passed out and woke up maybe thirty minutes later already feeling like I was getting burned. Sure enough, between laying on the beach and the sun shining through the window, I had a nice burn on both arms by the time we got back to Christchurch. Once again the drive back was amazing. Particularly right outside of Kaikoura the road winds up the mountain and at the top there is a place to pull off and you are rewarded with an amazing view of green mountains and valleys that stretch off, pure and untouched by humanity, into the distance. It is one of those places in the world where I want to just walk in a random direction and get lost for a few days. 

Back in Christchurch we stopped in at our home for the night. Danielle and Baxta the jack russell terrier were very welcoming. We were also finally able to wash our clothes. The sun has still not set completely at 9 pm.