Another beautifully sunny morning at our waterside lodge. Again, Kerry was more than happy to drop us off at the car hire place- great hospitality. Off we went- easy car to drive- automatic 1.5 Nissan with plenty of room for us and our luggage. We stopped at the i-site to book a room for the night south of Christchurch so we could get more than half way to Dunedin today. The coast road was right by the beach for most of the way with lovely views of the coastline and the deep turquoise colours of the Pacific Ocean. Kerry had suggested we stop before Half Moon Bay to look at the seal colony and take a short walk from there inland to see some waterfalls- we weren't disappointed! Many cubs were bathing in the warm sun on the rocks with their mothers. The falls were well hidden but we followed the small path to find them. We then just followed the road past Christchurch Airport and down to a place called Ashburton to Taylors Motel to rest for the evening. A long but pleasant drive with very little traffic and plenty of passing places if we happened to get stuck behind a lorry, although they do not hang around! Ashburton is an agricultural town- the car hire assistant told us they call it 'AshVegas'- well there were a few casinos but what we observed was it seemed a pretty wealthy area. We had a lovely meal and a stroll along the High Street before getting back to the comfy room to plan the next day's journey to Dunedin. All the motel rooms seem to be very well equipped and spotless- warm and cosy with comfy beds, toiletries, microwaves, ovens, all utensils, kettle, toaster and tea/coffees. We were impressed with the quality and value for money. The motel lady suggested we stop off in Oamaru on the way to Dunedin. I also contacted our Airbnb host in Dunedin, Rob, for any hints- he also suggested Oamaru and the Moeraki Boulders and if we had the time Riverside Cottage shops just by the Waikiti River. So that was the plan for Day 12.