We got up this morning and got ready for our whale watching trip. Shorts - check, suncream - check, sun hat - check. We were all ready to go when we opened the curtains and went outside to find high winds and rain. Damn! As we went down to the whale-way station I was a little nervous as I get seasick and the water was very choppy. When we got there we found our trip had been cancelled :-( We rescheduled for 4pm in the hope that the sea might calm and so had a w...

Today was a driving day... Left the Golden Bay YHA in good time and had to head over "that" hill! Takaka Hill, but it didn't seem so bad going back.... (it was one of the lord of the rings locations) Passed through Nelson, Blenheim and picked up our old friend the SH1. The scenery was beautiful and it's clear that the mountains and hills are the dominant feature of the landscape. Passing around the coast there were hundreds of seals, we stopped at the Ohau Poi...