Day 56 – Kaikoura to Wellington. NORTH ISLAND.

We left Kaikoura around 9am and stopped along the coast at Ohau Point to see some seals. From here our only stop was in Blenheim for breakfast and toilets. We arrived at Picton ferry port just after midday but out ferry didn’t leave until 2pm. The journey across was very rough and not as pleasant as the one on the way over to the South island. Not long after boarding the boat we were told at about 3.30pm the captain and the staff would be taking part in an evacuation drill, this was to make everyone aware so no one would panic. It was rather amusing to see people who had fallen asleep, wake up and be confused to hear the captain saying ‘ABANDON SHIP, ABANDON SHIP!’

Finally off the boat we made our way to Base hostel. This is the first of a few places we are no revisiting heading back north with the Kiwi bus. Rach and Charli have a friend who moved to Wellington about 2 years ago and he was having a party so we were invited to stay with him to save on a night’s accommodation. Kelly was leaving on the bus the following morning so she decided to stay at Base, which worked perfectly for us. We left our big bags in a locker and sorted out tomorrow night’s stay. We quickly grabbed some food, got ready and headed over to Dan’s house for the night.

Day 55 – Christchurch to Kaikoura.

It was another early start, as we needed to meet the bus at 7.15am. When putting luggage on the bottom you’re supposed to push it right to the back and stack them on top of each other to fit them all in, some people are incapable of doing this so I took it upon myself this morning to take all the bags off and actually do it properly. I don’t get these guns by doing nothing!

Once again we have another bus journey with Bridget. We stopped in Cheviot for breakfast around 9am and the 4 of us decided to order off menu because that’s what a café wants when a bus of 50 turn up. I opted for a sausage sandwich and hash brown... mmm!

We were then back on the road and for once we arrived at our destination before midday! The main thing to do in Kaikoura is to go swimming with dolphins or go whale watching. These activities were actually quite expensive and the weather was quite naff so I didn’t bother signing up. Instead the girls and I decided to be domesticated for the day. We did some washing, organised our bags, went for a hot drink, had a look in the few shops on the street and popped to the supermarket. 

We cooked some chicken and had a big salad, it was such a nice meal and refreshing from some of the other things we have been eating recently, plus we didn’t really need a lot after that breakfast.

To round off the evening we all jumped on one bed and watched ‘The Notebook’ whilst eating chocolate that wasn’t meant for us… oops!