We woke to bright sunshine and with the Seaward Kaikoura Mountain Range completely cloud free and looked forward to the Ocean Road trip - Highway 1 - up through Blenheim and Nelson, up past the Abel Tasman Park, on through Nelson on the Treasured Pathway aka Highway 6 and on to Golden Bay, our 'beach resort' for the next couple of days. Very quickly however the cloud rolled in followed by rain and this followed our tail all the way up to Picton when the sky bec...

We woke to grey skies and wind! But still warm, the lady at the holiday park had promised hot sun but we don't suppose it will matter on our whale searching quest - today's adventure! Sandwiches made we walked the half hour or so into the Whaleway Station (yes really, the conservation-minded tour company have built their premises on the site of the old whaling station) where we sat enjoying the sea view and waited for our trip to begin. The Whale Watch Company...

We left lush green North Island and windy Wellington under grey skies and had a fab, smooth crossing to Picton across the Cook Straight and into hot sunshine and dry, dry scenery. The 'Low Fire Risk' signs in NI became 'High Fire Risk' in SI. As we sailed we could see the 'Long White Cloud' firmly over North Island on the right and bright blue cloudless skies of South Island on the left. We looked forward with expectancy at the treasures to explore over the nex...

Woke to another very windy and rather grey day in the concrete but very convenient Gateway Motor Park. (Regular bus service right opposite the park, 5km to the ferry, no need to drive downtown, perfect!) We planned to get done what we could but any thought of a gentle stroll along the sea front was out of the question as howling winds made it difficult to stand up in parts. This meant we were left to walk the shop-lined streets - shame eh!! Stopped for the bes...

Before anyone comments - the photo is actually of Auckland Harbour not Wellington; we have yet to take a photo of Wellington and the blog doesn't allow us to post without a photo. A warm but cloudy start to the day in Stratford, and the often present stiff breeze returned. Tip: make sure you don't bring 'full' skirts, I've not yet been able to wear one of my only two as I'd spend all my time holding it down! Went to say farewell to Doreen but found she'd pop...