Cups of tea brought us all to life and Phil experimented with a Berocca, fearing the worst that he may be experiencing the pre-clinical stages of Man-flu. We were all naturally sympathetic as we demolished a stack of warm croissants and fruit before breaking camp and heading out of Hamner. The plan was to head west for an invigorating walk. After 15 minutes of driving we saw that a wall of steely grey clouds and heavy rain was approaching. Not part of the plan. Being adaptable types we turned tail and set off for plan B, away from the hideous weather.

We followed Betsy out to the coast, hoping to find the start of the Port Robinson coast track. What we found was a rugged section of coast, where in bad weather the waves would crash onto the black sand under the cliffs with only the windswept trees to watch it.

We walked down to the beach, passing the DOC sign stating the closure of the track which we had intended to walk. Secretly quite glad, we walked on the beach, paddled, and got caught off guard by a freak wave.

We wandered back to the car and headed south for lunch at Wairau Springs Vineyard. The menus were surplus to requirements as we ordered 2 huge sharing platters and Lorna and I sampled the wine. We took as much advice as we could for our onward journey and, after settling the bill, went our separate ways.

We decided to kick on and break the back of the journey north, from where our ferry left at lunchtime the next day. We passed through Kaikora and drove the coast road north for the third time, ending up staying in the Blenheim Top 10. We proved yet again that Watties really isn't Heinz because they can't make tomato soup and fell asleep having finished both my story tape and book!