Rise and Shine (recharging our batteries?)

Waking up to a bright red sunrise by the sea in Kaikoura made up for the previous evening's car trouble and wonderings of 'would we have been better in a hostel…?'.We tucked into a sausage sandwich while the sun came up and hot-footed it back into the town for some early morning Whale-watching.Once we set sail we were relieved to have taken the advised seasickness tablets as we sped over waves to find the nearest Sperm Whales.We reached a Whale named Manu (returning to the area after the summer) and we dashed outside in time to see him diving back to the seabed and flipping his giant tail in the air.The depth in this area is a surprising 1.6km due to an underwater canyon close to the shore.These whales submerge themselves for up to an hour so we went looking for other wildlife in the meantime.It was at this point that I noticed a group of three hadn't even left their indoor seats and clutched paper bags - $435 not well spent for them (they didn't make it out of their seats the whole trip!)We didn't see any other whales but Manu returned to the surface so we could sail close and see how large he is.

In the late morning we took a drive along a very picturesque stretch of coastline to Blenhiem.Very little was open as it was ANZAC day so searching for a mechanic to fully charge our car battery was out of the question.Luckily though, despite most things being shut, the local Marlborough region wineries opened their cellar doors for tastings in the afternoon!I was quite happy with this as Sam drove us to few different wineries and I obligingly tasted a full selection of wine.

Since we would need to find a mechanic in the morning before our ferry we decided to drive the remainder of the way to Picton.After cruising around the area and avoiding several NO overnight parking signs we parked up in a small picnic area.No lights or DVD again but we were so tired after cramming so much in we that we got some sleep before our search for a mechanic this morning.

At last this morning we found a friendly mechanic to charge the battery while we wandered around Picton (Hooray!).The ferry is chugging its way through the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Cook Strait at the moment so we are looking forward to some well-lit camping tonight in Wellington.

Liz