It's not even 08:00 and we came across these surfers at one of the beaches north of town. I actually took the photo for the view. A couple of the guys must have spent the night in their vehicles as they were still asleep.
Looking back toward Kaikoura.
The road follows the coast along with the railroad, with various tunnels.
Seal colony. The info boards say that males grow to 2.5 meters and 200 kg (bigger than our seals) while the females are 1.5 meters long and 40 - 80 kg.
Another view of the mountains over a riverbed.
Eventually there was a bit of a flat plain between the mountains and the sea with mostly grasslands. It's very dry country in spite of being next to the ocean.
We stopped for lunch at a tearoom at Kekerengu Point and had a pretty good carrot cake for desert. We've been sampling carrot cake ever since Leddy, Laura and I had the world's greatest carrot cake in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. We haven't equalled that one yet, although I've made one that's close.
Our destination today was Pedaller's Rest, about 55 km south of Blenheim. It's pretty basic, but in a great setting. This used to be a sheep shearer's hut.
Unless there are some late comers, we're the only tenants tonight.
Last photo is of the resident lawn mowing crew. the owners of the property are pretty much out of the sheep business now and have converted some of the land to grapes.
Tomorrow's target is Blenheim, only 55 km further along. However, the wind has gotten up (they are predicting gales overnight), so we'll see.
I note that you had a magnitude 4.7 earthquake to welcome you to Wellington.
ReplyDeleteOther Rick