We wanted to hit the road to Kiakoura early as yesterday's drive was 5 hours more than expected. We quickly loaded the car and headed up to Greymouth, then headed east at Reefton down route 7. Although the weather was turning, the low cloud going through Lewis Pass created majestic views as the tops of the mountains pieced through the clouds. We stopped a few times to take in the scenery. It wasn't long before we were chasing the beautiful Waiau River all the way to Hanmer Springs. It was the second time Stevie and I have been to this quaint town. It's a small town with a lot on offer.

Time and weather meant we only have a few hours in Hanmer this time. We wanted to show Stevie's Mum and Sister the Hot Springs, so we headed straight there.

Within 30mins, we were all changed and relaxing in the springs, These Springs can reach 42°, believe me you can feel the different in that couple of degrees increase from the 40° that we experienced in Lake Tekapo.

Although it was 42° in the pools, it made a nice contract to the freezing weather. It was nice to relax after a day and ½ of driving….

A quick bite to eat later we headed offer again this time to Kiakoura, hoping to reach the Ohau Stream before sunset. Ohau Stream is about 27km north of Kaikoura it is a small stream that leads up to a waterfall.

Between April and September the pool at the base of the waterfall is home to baby seal pups.

We finally entered Kiakoura, with sunlight still remaining we headed up to the Stream, about 5 a minute walk off the state highway 1.

Luckily as soon as we got there. The rain stopped. We headed down the track, it wasn't long before we saw a few seal pups in the stream. They had gotten bigger since we last saw them. We finally reached the pool and it didn't disappoint. We were the only ones there which made it even more intimate. The pool was filled with about 20-30 seal pups.

The seals stay here because it offers protection from storms that hit the coast and predators. They remain at the pool for several days and then return to the coast to feed from their mother's milk. The mothers head out to sea on foraging trips, for periods of one to 20 days at sea, then return to the shore to feed their pups.

After about half an hour we headed back to the car and drove down route 1, to spot the mother seals on the rocky Kiakoura coast. You can pull up anywhere and see the seals. There are hundreds, Its difficult to get bored of the view as there is always something happening. Some sleeping, some looking curiously at you and your camera, others playing in rock pools, fighting or playing. It was a nice ending to our day on the road.

We headed back into the main town of Kiakoura and checked into our cabin at the 'Top 10' holiday park. The cabin was one room for the 4 of us, let's just say it was very cozy.

In the evening we decided to head to the cinema, it was a small town family run theatre house probably built in the 1930s. When we got there only one film was showing Fast & Furious 6 which we didn't want to see. So I went in to try and get them to change the movie to 'Despicable me 2' When I found out that they had sold no tickets for Fast & Furious, I made my move. Next minute I'm upstairs in the actual reel room, asking the guy to switch reels. He was probably too dazed and surprised by my presence in there that he agree to switch reels if no one turned up by 6.55pm. Result! so I headed back down to the kiosk with a sense of accomplishment, I only had to wait 5 minutes. Then to my horror to little boys walked in to watch Fast & Furious. I couldn't say the cinema was closed as the owner was right there. So just before the boys reached the kiosk. I mouthed to the manager. There is 4 of us 2 of them… Think of the extra money. I could see her trying to persuade the boys to watch my film, but they wouldn't budge. So I offered to buy their tickets if they watched our movie. At $5 a ticket it was a good deal. We were back on track. Until one of the boys changed his mind. I tried everything to persuade him, saying all the girls are watching Despicable Me at the moment, so he would be a hit with the girls. Sensing I had lost this battle, I said to the boy 'Thanks for ruining my holiday' and walked out.

Next time I will get the girls to wait outside instead of in the car to stop and young lads ruining my plan…

Defeated we had a quick hoy chocolate in the café across the road and headed back to the cabin for our early start tomorrow….