A quiet day today. South Brighton is to the west of Christchurch. North Brighton is a little farther north up the coast. Both places let NZ down. Think WSM in Somerset, no donkeys on the beach here though. Was going to show you a picture of Brighton pier but decided to let you see an albatross instead. Good campsite though. Had lunch in Brighton, now enjoying a beer. Didn't want one really but we need to empty the van by tomorrow! Intend having a look round Chris...

Well, well, whale. What a day we have had . Selected this photo from many we have taken today. Not sure if it's any good. May be just a fluke shot! Amongst the best 3 hours we have ever spent. Two sperm whales, two types of albatross, Wandering and Royal Southern, maybe 200 or so dusky dolphins and petrels on a clear and cloudless sky. For those of you struggling to work out the picture, the blue stuff at the top is the sky and the blue stuff at the bottom is the...

Good start to today. Sat on a bench at the beach, having breakfast and watching dolphins leaping in the bay. What could be better? Alerted to their presence by 15 noisy primary aged kids screaming that they had 'seen a whale'! Drove down the coast a little, saw some more dolphins and fur seals but decided to come back and do some walking. Spent a little over 3 hours walking the peninsula. Some woodland, open fields and beach walking. Deserved a beer after that, ...

After breakfast this morning we went into Blenheim for a look around. Pretty much the same as any town, shops, museum and art gallery. Left At around 10 and headed south towards Kaikoura. Stopped along the way and photographed some more fur seals except these ones had pups. Probably got a little too close as we disturbed them. Got some great shots though! Moving on we came across a couple of roadside stalls selling freshly cooked crayfish. Too good to miss so we...

Picture is us enjoying our meal at the Boat Shed Cafe last evening. Lazy start this morning, set off at 10 and drove to Havelock to see if it was the mussel capital of NZ. When we got there it said they were the mussel capital of the world. Self proclaimed no doubt so we had to put it to the test. A bit early for lunch when we arrived so we set off to walk up an appetite. Lovely marina and museum and by coincidence we arrived at the Mussel Pot just as lunch was a...