We stopped off in the town of Kaikoura which is famous for it's whale watching trips. After a bit of umming and awwing we decided against doing this trip as it was very expensive and the seas were a little rough causing Alison to reminisce about her nights of vomiting in the Galapagos. Instead we had another stroll along the beach, saw our first whitebaiters (more on these guys later) and looked for suitable bits of driftwood to use as walking sticks.

We then drove out to the peninsula for the walk along the cliff tops, taking in the views of lush green fields leading right up to snow-capped mountains. After a little snack of fresh fish at a roadside stall we treated ourselves to a shower at the BP garage on the road north, sharing our four dollar token!

In Kaikoura we also visited our first I-site which are amazingly informative and helpful tourist information centres which are all over New Zealand, there we picked up the Department of Conservation campsite leaflet which would become our bible for the next 3 weeks. We spotted a site further up the coast and set off for it.