To the North of the South Island.

Left at 9.00am and headed north for our last couple of days on the south island.

We had a wee stop at Cheviot. On parking, the coach driver, Tim, informed us that the mural on the toilet block had caused some controversy among the locals - looks OK to me.

As we approached Kaikoura, Tim pointed out that some rock at the water's edge is black and some is white. Turns out the black was always there and the white was under water till the earthquake of 2016.

The white rock was pushed upward by the quake. The locals virtually woke up to see white rock where there was previously a bay.

We lunched in Kaikoura with the option to meet back at the bus and go out to the Kaikoura Peninsula. Here we could climb the hill at the end to get great views or to walk around the base and see seals - we did both. The hill is white rock so is therefore only seven years old!

Then onwards to Picton where we will spend two nights before boarding the Interislander ferry to the mainland on Sunday.Read more