A rather lazy start today, but we felt we'd earned a lie in after all the travelling and early mornings, and we knew we wouldn't get to Kaikoura from Christchurch in time for a boat trip out to the see the whales, though a flight might have been possible, but that seems a rather remote way of seeing whales.

So, here we are still in the campsite in Christchurch (www.christchurchtop10.co.nz), and it's a lovely morning:

Our motorhome is a bit anonymous, which has its downsides: not so easy to spot amongst 30 others that all look very similar. But we have an answer to that .....

In due course, once we'd unplugged everything and closed everything ready for transit, we set off north, Barbara driving and me navigating with the GPS's:

We stopped about halfway at a really nice little bar/cafe for a toastie & capuccino:

And there were lovely views from the windows where we were sitting:

In due course we got to Kaikoura and thanks to Charlie's excellent navigating, got straight to the nice campsite (www.kaikouratop10.co.nz) almost by the beach, but separated by the railway station from the sea:

You can tell that it's by the sea by the camp facilities:

And it's good to see that Kiwis have a sense of humour too. Here's the GPS view of our current location, the white star on black is us/campsite, station just to our east, and south of that, the Whale Watch office (www.kaikourawhalewatching.com), but note its address:

And now, the answer to the question everyone's been asking: what's the pole for?

It's to fly the flag and help us locate our motorhome in a sea of anonymous similar vehicles:

And maybe, if there are any other Brits around, they might come up and say hello.

Another early start tomorrow, 7:15 am for the early boat out to the deep water to (hopefully) see a whale or two.

written by  Saros on May 1, 2009 from Kaikoura, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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Hooray, now we know what the pole's for! Love the patriotic motorhome marker. Hope you get to see some whales.
Sarah and Keith

written by  Sarah Mutch on May 1, 2009

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