The wine station

After 3 days of very limited breakfast it was extra nice to have a free and almost unlimited waffle, toasts, cornflakes and coffee breakfast. We certainly made use of that. Then it was time to get to the bus station where our bus to Kaikoura would leave around 9:45. The bus ride wasn't spectacular but wasn't too bad either. It took us 6 hours to arrive in Kaikoura including a 2.5 hour stopover in Blenheim. Blenheim is known for its wine. Apart from wine it doesn't have more to offer than a nice park with a clock tower. We bought some lunch and ate it there while waiting for the next bus. The Internet connection in the bus was decent and for once we didn't overthink things and just booked a dolphin watching tour in Kaikoura for the next day at 5:30 - yes, the sunrise tour. In Kaikoura we had to do quite some walking. First to the hostel and then a 5km return getting food at the supermarket. But it was a nice walk too with views on the sea. We made soms great beetroot wraps.

To make this post a bit more interesting, here some price indication on New Zealand travel life:

Hostel bed in dorm: 25-35 NZD pp sometimes including breakfast
Camping: everything is possible from 0 to 35 NZD pp, on the North Island we mostly camped for 15pp
Fuel: 2,10-2,30NZD per liter, our small rental cars consume 6-7,5 per 100km
Small rental car including 0 excess insurance: 100 NZD per day in the Christmas week on the North Island, 40 NZD per day now on the South Island
A burger, chips or other things at the takeaway for 2 people: 8-18 NZD
Groceries: 30 NZD per dayRead more