Hello! We drove for eight hours solidly to get from the west to the east coast. I don't recommend it, not much fun! We drove through the mountains again though which would have been stunning had it not rained all day again! Anyway Kaikoura got sunnier and warmer luckily and the morning after we arrived we managed to get on a whale watching tour at 10am. The captain assured us that the sea had not been that calm for over a week and that sea sickness would not be an issue. The boat held about 50 people altogether but was still a little bouncy on the water for my liking! Neither of us was actually sick though so we should count our blessings I guess! We were out at sea for about 3 hours and had three sightings of sperm whales. They use GPS to monitor the feeding patterns and then basically go back to the place they were last spotted. Apparently they go down to eat for about an hour and then come up to spirt water and show us their big pretty tails. Kaikoura is pretty special as the water gets very deep close to shore, about 3000 metres deep all of a sudden like an underwater cliff. You can see the water change colour as you go, looks like you're sailing through tar. It was a fantastic (if a little pricey) experience to see the whales so close, we must have been about 20 metres from them. We also got to see fur seals and albatrosses on the way. We had intended to go swimming with dolphins as well whilst in Kaikoura but after realising that I really don't like the sea much, and put off by the cold, we decided that we might save it for another time. We also overheard the captain telling someone that the trip out to swim that morning hadn't managed to locate any dolphins. How unlucky! The afternoon was not a total loss though as we found some magic carrot cake in a little cafe and sat and had a beer too. Very nice way to end the day I think! Lots of love Hayley & Holly xxxx