After leaving Queenstown I travelled back north with a quick overnight stop in Christchurch before stopping in Kaikora. On the way we crossed back over the Southern Alps for the final time, this time via the Lindis Pass, with a perfect setting for lunch overlooking the aqua blue Lake Pukaki.

The next day we arrived in Kaikora by lunchtime to find the sun shining and it was even warm enough to reintroduce my legs to the world and get my shorts back out. After admiring the town from up above at a great little lookout point, I spent the afternoon walking round the coast to a seal colony where there were the most enormous seals all over the beach, and even a few skulking under bushes! They were more than happy to pose for the cameras, although they did tend to bark a bit if anyone got too close.

But there isn't too much to do in this small town, so we only spent one night here before saying goodbye to the north island and travelling up to Picton to catch the ferry across the Cook Strait to Wellington and the north island. It's actually quite a long crossing considering how small the country of New Zealand is and as we found out it's also one of the roughest crossings in the world! I managed to sleep for most of the 3 and a half hours we were on the boat, but for the brief time I did open my eyes it wasn't too reassuring to look out of the window and see the sea one minute?and the sky the next as the boat rocked heavily!

But thankfully we all arrived in Wellington safe and sound and ready for a good night's sleep...