(DAY 18) Kia Ora! We had such a lazy day yesterday and yet we still managed to stay in our lounging clothes until midday. For breakfast we ate the leftovers from Lauren's amazing lasagne before we swiftly got ready to pick up Sam Lappin, another of Kie's friends from back home who is over here for a year, from the airport. We had been somewhat disappointed by the lack of aftershocks since our arrival, having been told we'd feel them during the day. In actual...

(DAY 17) Kia Ora! Today we were pleased to have absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go! We intended to make the most of chilling out while Louis and Lauren were at work so we took over the TV and the washing machine whilst using the free internet! Kie spent the day watching rugby while Sophie sorted out photos on the blog. When Lauren got home, Sophie made some Kiwi dip (the most amazing dip) and we all spent the evening stocking up on chups and dups lea...

(DAY 16) Kia Ora! Again, the sunshine was out and greeted us bright and early. By 10.30am we were back at the whale watching office and there was a couple booking a forty minute flight, which was slightly more expensive, but they needed an extra person to go with them. Having waited for days for a single person to come with us, Kie said he'd miss out on the whale watching to let Sophie go up in the helicopter with the couple who were waiting. Within the hour ...

(DAY 15) Kia Ora! We woke up to another beautiful day but it was so windy. We headed straight for the Kaikoura Whale Watch to see if they were still flying and if we'd be able to go - although they could fly the advised it might be better, if we had the time, to put it off for the following day. We decided to take the advice and wandered around the town for a bit before deciding to call the day a write-off and going into Global Gossip to catch up on our blog...

(DAY 14) Kia Ora! We had a surprisingly long lie in and awoke at 8am! Although Picton seemed like a nice enough place, we didn't feel there was much to do so we wanted to move on straight away. Just as we were about to rustle up something small for breakfast, Kie was approached by an Aussie lad who was leaving for Australia and had food leftover! This meant our boring breakfast quickly became amazing and Kie whipped together steak, egg and cheese sandwiches whi...