Waking up in Kaikoura, we headed out to Point Kean, where there are seals right there on the rocky beach. Another one had wandered up in the bushes
. Then we hiked up to the top of the cliff to overlook the ocean. This was going to be our best chance to see any whales (breaching out on the water) because we decided to skip the whale tour option (by boat or plane) as they are exhorbitantly expensive, and there actually aren’t any whales out there so it would be very dicey to try to see just one. No whales seen from shore, but more stunning views – blah blah blah!
We hit the road for Christchurch, stopping along the way at a lavendar farm that had a gregarious farmer and equally gregarious sheep. Christchurch itself seemed dull and we got back on the road after a pointless hour in the cuty center looking for a break. Sorry Christchurch. We’ll return to catch our flight back to Auckland on Friday.
Timaru was next, and we just overnighted there in a holdiay park. The host (owner) checked us in late and chatted us up about American politics, which a lot of people seem very interested in here. They are all assuming that Obama will be the next president. It’s hard to get them to talk about their own politics though (they have a big election coming up this year too).
Some Odds and Ends:
There are ducks in every holiday park (campground that we park our motorhome in), sheep on every hillside, and sea gulls everywhere we go.
There are no billboards on the highways. Just the occasional handlettered sign pointing off to a farm with eggs or fruit or “vege” for sale.
In addition to the sheep and cows there are some deer farms. Venison is one of the many animals eaten here. Oh, and so are wallabys apparently.
The money here is beautiful. The coins have the Queen on the face and Maori designs on the flip side. The paper money isn’t paper at all, but a soft plasticy bill a bit thicker than a grocery bag. They have transparant elements and are very sturdy.
Here are some funny place names from our NZ atlas: Taylor’s Mistake, Mount Difficulty, more to come.
Internet access is tough here! We rarely have it in the car park, so we have to rush these posts at internet cafes …