Bye North, Hi South

Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton, south Island. Drove 160km south to Kaikoura

Lucky we stayed overnight in the carpark/van park, if it was the normal grassy spot, we would still be there, bogged. It rained all night, with intervals of heavy storms.
We had to be at the warf by 8 so we skipped breaky and queued up to go onto the ship. It holds up to 1600 passengers & 600 cars. Was probably only 1/2 full today so all loading went smoothly, campervans were last on (& last off). Found some good seats right up the front and settled in for the 3 1/2 hr trip. Expecting it to be rough due to 50 knot winds but was really quite smooth, went through plenty of rain until the sky broke just as we reached the 1st sight of the south island. Some really nice views off both sides of the ferry as it wound its way through the bays & into Picton wharf.
Almost last off the ferry & into the end of a really heavy storm, all the low lying paddocks were under water & creeks running over. Cruised our way to Blenheim (26km) were we spent a little time exploring car parks, trying to find 1 to fit our vans, well worth it by lunching in an excellent cafe in the CBD.
Headed south through vineyards and sheep country before getting into some pretty barren hills with no trees or stock, except 1 large salt farm, pretty unusual in these parts. Then we we running alongside the sea with a range of hills just inland. Must create a rainshadow as the grass was brown & the creeks were dry. Then we went around a corner to see in front of us, a huge snow capped mountain, the tops sticking out above the clouds.
From then on we had coastline to our left and mountain range to our right, the road & railway almost filling the gap inbetween.
Around another bend and we see seals dotted across the rocks on the shoreline, hundreds of them, lounging about, spending the afternoon sleeping and waving to the tourists who had pulled up to watch them, us included.
Into Kaikoura late afternoon, shrouded in mist & clouds, so no view of the mountain today. Checked into the Alpine-Pacific Kiwi Holiday Park and was most surprised - surely the best one we have stayed in yet. Small in sites but plenty of kitchen & bathroom space & ammenities, although I did have to use the old trusty pocket knife to get the washing machine working.
Strolled down to the supermarket and stocked up, returning via a small fish & chip shop selling crayfish, oysters & fresh fish. Thinking some fresh crayfish might be just the ticket for entree, we enquired about those crustaceans only to be told that they were NZ $80 each. No sale here, so continued empty handed back to the park to enjoy an excellent meal, exempt of crayfish.
Kitchen was heaps busy with a bus load of young Americans, who say they are on an environmental study tour but we suspect more, eg church group or some such as they were too well behaved to be normal students on tour.

Weather continues to be cool but not cold and ranging from showers to heavy rain with occasional spurts of sunshine.

Highlights
* easy embarkation and comfy ride on the ferry,
* spectacular views of the bays entering South Island,
* wide range of scenery going down south to Kaikoura
* finding an outstanding campervan park in town.Read more