Woke to clear, sunny skies, & fantastic views over the bay. Completed the usual morning chores, and reluctantly left the site at 10am, buying a Top 10 membership card as we left (10% discount on accommodation, local attractions, and (annoyingly) the Interislander Ferry). Rove into town, and wandered along the sea front shops for a while - sat on the end of the pier, hoping to see dolphins (we didn't!), and learnt about Paua (abalone) pearl farming & jewelry making. Ended up in the library, to use the (free) internet. Bought the kids a book each to read.

Left town about ~1pm & drove out via the "scenic route" (it's all scenic!), stopping to admire the views (& the precipitous road edges) along the way! Ate lunch with a fantastic 360˚ view; Akaroa Harbour to the south, Pigeon Bay to the north. After a final round of photos, we drove down, back to the shore, & left the peninsula. Rejoined the SH1, heading SW, and passed through Ashburton! Ended up at Fairlie Top 10 Park, as the guide book said that was child friendly, and had a good play area! Used our new membership card to get 10% off the $80 fee for the cabin, but were tempted by the 3 for 2 offer mentioned, when we asked if we might be able to stay for 2 nights. Basic cabin, with large shared kitchen, nice facilities, play area, lots of space, & next to the town domain & kids play area.

Decided, with little discussion, to stay for a couple of days, as the weather was forecast to be poor, & then improve. Also, we were all in need of a "do nothing" day!

Kids played for an hour before tea, then went to bed, as they both needed to catch up on some sleep! While putting the unused groceries back in the boot of the car, D managed to drop the car keys into the boot and close it, thus locking us out of the car!

L decided on an early night, too, D stayed up, to catch up on diary writing and blog posting - hooray for free internet!