We were picked up at 8:00am by our new Stray Bus and met our driver Bundy who would be with us for the next few days. Bundy was a great driver, full of information and stories, but he did insist on calling me Triple B! The trip to Kaikoura was amazing and within a few hours we realised how beautiful New Zealand was. The scenery was spectacular and the pictures we took on route didn´t do any justice to what we were seeing.

Kaikoura is a small town which in Maori means ´meal of crayfish. The town is famous for the whales and dolphins that reside in the waters off Kaikoura. We checked into our hostel and then boarded a plane for an afternoon of whale spotting. There is a deep sea trench only a couple of kilometres off the coast from here so you don't have to go very far out to spot the animals. There were five of us in the plane and it wasn´t too long till we were do nose dives etc to spot the whales. It was really cool to see the full length of these creatures. After landing we all felt rather dizzy and slightly sick! That evening Bundy cooked us a lovely Kiwi Roast before we headed to the pub to watch the Kiwi - Ireland rugby match. We rally enjoyed our time in Kaikoura. The hostel was really homely and had a great living room where we were able to watch films and chill out.