When we got off the ferry in Picton we drove straight to Blenhiem, which was only about 10 mins away and then the next day onto Kaikoura. On the way down to Kaikoura we stopped at the seal colony which was really cool because we got right up close to the seals basking on the rocks, they didn't seem bothered at all by us watching them! On friday (29th Feb) we went out with Whale watch Kaikoura (the only boat company that operates, which isn't surprising because anybody would be mad to try and compete with them!). The trip was realy really good and very well organised, the sysyem that they use to spot the whales is very reliable. The boats that go out constantly communicate with one another about the position of the whales, the skippers know that the whales dive for approx 40-60 minutes and so they arrive at the spot where the whale was last seen within that time. Sometimes they would only be minutes to spare and so there would be a high speed whale chase which was fun! We saw the same sperm whale-Tiaki-twice. She was huge! We also saw heaps of dusky dolpins which travel in pods of up to 50 and are really playful. I think they were showing off a bit by jumping out of the water and doing all sorts of acrobatics!

The next day we headed back to Blenhiem because unfortunately it was time to find work again! Before starting work though it was Neil's birthday for which we went wine tasting! We went with a tour operater and got driven around the wineries as opposed to attempting to cycle! The day was very...alcoholic and ended with a meal in the pub across the road from the campsite.

Since Neil's birthday we have been working for a company in Blenhiem called Vincon, grape picking. So the next for weeks will unfortunately be WORK, WORK, WORK...