NO WAY WE WERE WATCHING WHALES TODAY

DAY 30: Kaikoura

After Skyping the Thompsons we headed across the road to the Whaleway Station (it's really called that) for our whale watching excursion. The weather was fabulous onshore, and the coastal swell much calmer than the day before so we had no doubt we'd be out at sea today.

As we checked in for our 10.30 departure, we were advised that the swell was really 'gnarly' out at sea and that we didn't have to go if we didn't want to, but if we did we should take a sea sickness pill as it was pretty rough. As we were about to take the pill, Jen said, 'shouldn't we wait until they've confirmed our departure' to which I said, 'nah, we're definitely going and it will give it time to settle'. Literally 30 seconds after we'd popped the pill, the captain cancelled our sailing. We were gutted about not going, but the company were fantastic and we got a full refund as we couldn't book on any of the others. On the plus side we had some much-needed cash now and we definitely wouldn't get sea sick today. We also saw some quite green faces on those returning from a trip and they hadn't seen any whales anyway so it was probably all for the best.

It was a scorching hot day but not sweaty-hot. It was also really weird looking at the snow on the mountains and feeling hot.

We walked along Kaikoura's beach, taking a paddle through one of the mountain streams running down to sea. We were on a hunt for Jen's legendary barramundi sandwich she had when last here about six years ago.

We walked quite far and when we approached where the stall was it looked promising, but on closer inspection the lady and BBQ had been replaced by two or three van stalls and a coffee caravan. Jen was gutted but we decided we'd eat here after we'd visited the seal colony a short walk further on. We had a grilled fish sandwich and a grilled scallop sandwich which were both pretty amazing. Their claim to be the 'Original, World Famous Grilled Fish BBQ' seems worthy. The grilled crayfish (actually a Pacific lobster - no claws) looked sublime but too pricey for our budget.

On our return to the seafront, and not at all feeling sea sick thanks to the pill we'd taken earlier (!), we decided to relax and take in the wonderful view on a bench and had 'philosophical' chat. The sun must be getting to our brain.

After an hour or so, and in real need of an alcoholic beverage, we found a bar with a terrace. I had an ice cold Mac's Sassy Red bitter which was awesome and really tasty, and I'm not much of a bitter drinker so it must be good. Jen had a Malibu and pineapple to cool down with - a real holiday drink. We then strolled lazily into town browsing the shops and taking in a latte before returning to the hostel to freshen up and apply lots of aftersun to my shiny head.

Before we headed out to dinner, we thought a livener was due in the Adelphi bar. As we were ordering our drinks a Steptoe-looking guy stood up and shouted out (in a broad kiwi accented 'I've-had-a-few-to-many-again' kind of way); 'I'm gonna go home and fire up my bong' to which the whole bar laughed. He then followed it up with, 'At least I'm honest about it', then, 'I'm gonna rocket myself right into the back of the bed'. Leg...en...dary! Unfortunately, Kiwi Steptoe's departure meant his more than sloshed drinking partner, Phylis, decided she wanted someone to 'chat' to, and her nearest victims happened to be Jen and I. Phylis is a 60+ Maori woman who, by her own admission, likes to 'play up', is a 'naughty girl' and is 'good at pole dancing'. I must add that all of this was at about 5.30 in the afternoon.

Drinking up swiftly when Phylis went to the loo, we headed across the road to The Whaler, the Adelphi's sister bar, to 'Toss the Boss' - a happy hour game where between 8 and 9 you toss a coin with the bar staff for each drink you buy. If you win, you get your drink free. If you lose, you pay for it. I think we won two and lost two, but on the last one the barmaid must have felt sorry for me and even though I lost gave me the drink free.

Given that we'd not done one of the things we'd come to Kaikoura for, we'd made the most of the lovely weather and had a superb day.