We had originally planned to go to the springs in Hanmer today, but after checking the weather forecast last night, we decided to put it off for a few days and wait for the weather to warm up. We woke up to pouring rain so it was probably a good decision! After breakfast, we drove into town for a coffee at Powerhouse Café and used their free wifi for an hour. Then we headed to the Four Square supermarket for some supplies - we'd decided to take advantage of the...

We had an early start today, as we had to be back in Kaikoura for 8:20, ready for our 8:30 dolphin encounter! When we checked in, we were told of the possibilities that we might not see any dolphins or might not be able to swim with them if they weren't behaving correctly…although both of those were highly unlikely - phew! We were called through to the changing rooms and were given our gear to try on - wetsuits, jackets, socks, flippers, hoods and snorkels! We...

This morning we drove on towards Kaikoura, and on the way we stopped at Ohau Stream, near where we'd stopped on our first time through two months ago! This time we found a place where NZ fur seals travel upstream to a waterfall, where the seal pups play while their mothers are out at sea finding food (don't know where the lazy Dads are…). We found a few seals at the mouth of the stream, playing with the leaves in the water. We then walked further upstream until...

Today it was 5 months since we started travelling! This was our second visit to Picton, but last time we drove straight through after getting off the ferry. So today we decided to spend the morning exploring the town. First stop was an internet café where we spent almost 2 hours sorting out photos and researching Australia for our next 3 months! We then picked up a few supplies in the supermarket, before going back to the campsite after realising we'd left some...

Today we drove back towards Nelson after leaving the campsite and parked our van at the bottom of Boundary Hill in town. After a steep half hour, windy climb to the top, we'd reached what the hill is famous for - the spot marking the exact centre of NZ! So now we've been to the Northern and Southern tips of the country (Cape Reinga and Bluff) and the middle! On our way out of town we stopped for shopping and then hit the road towards Picton. We stopped for lunch...