For some reason we had a mega early departure this morning, the bus leaving at 7.20 from outside the hostel. The driver yesterday said that this was to get to our next stop in Kaikoura nice and early for activities in the afternoon which was fair enough. After a quick shower and toast for breakfast the bus arrived bang on time and we made our way out of Christchurch, easier said than done! There were many hostel pick ups as there were a lot of people starting there bus pass from here, and there were also road works everywhere and at one point a normal road got to a dead end and we had to reverse for ages just to get back on track. We got onto the highway eventually though!
With another relatively cruisey day as many Kiwi people say, it was a pretty relaxing morning. Driving through the Canterbury Plains, our driver sent back what felt like an endless supply of clipboard of things ranging from Kaikoura activities to accommodation bookings to ferry bookings. This took us a good hour to complete on the once again half full coach and it was timed just right when arriving into our first stop of the day, Cheviot. With little more than a single street dotted with shops, cafes and houses, it was all a nice little stroll. I even treated myself to an egg and bacon sandwich here, arguably my favourite sandwich.
From here it was one last push into Kaikoura, arriving at 11 due to our slow departure out of Christchurch. I am staying 3 nights in Kaikoura because I couldn't do 2 nights here and 2 nights in Christchurch, so I chose to spend longer in Kaikoura. The buses all get very confusing! Before checking into my hostel, our driver took us up to the lookout over the small town and the views were pretty impressive seeing all the mountains in the Kaikoura ranges as well as the town and sea on both sides as Kaikoura has a peninsula attached to the mainland. After leaving the lookout, it was straight to the hostel called the Lazy Shag, which despite the name was actually a really cosy little place run by a very vocal Asian woman.
Little more than a small fishing town until recent years, Kaikoura is perhaps most famous for its abundance of wildlife with things like whales, dolphins, penguins, seals and albatross amongst the things living here. This brings with it lots of tourists with local operators running cruises and even flights to see these things. These didn't really appeal to me however as they were so expensive, although the one activity that caught my eye was the seal swimming, although it was cancelled apparently due to murky water. The other tour I was interested in was this fishing trip where you go fishing and catch lots of fish, then go back to the organisers house for a few beers, before staggering down the street with a bag full of fish to the local chippy to fry up and eat! This was also cancelled as it has shut down for the year which was a shame.
With not many other appealing options left to do Kaikoura, I headed into town to check out the shops and the beach which was covered in this grey sand. With a beautiful day I walked as far as this whale rib walkway which was pretty impressive, I headed back the same way via the i site to see if I had missed any potential things to do during my time here. The only other interactive thing that appealed to me on offer was a day trip llama trekking, although I soon lost interest when I heard the price. With just sightseeing trips on offer for mental prices, it appears I will be doing the two major hikes round Kaikoura in my two days here!
Heading back the hostel, my next stop of the day was the local new world which is my free WiFi hotspot for the duration of my stay in Kaikoura. Apparently this is newly built and despite being out of town has been a huge boost for the town. Walking back along the seafront to the hostel, I then opted to spend the afternoon geocaching. I decided to head more out of town however as there was a trail round the local farmland with a high density of caches.
Walking back along the main highway we drove in on, I walked all the way to the outer suburb of ocean ridge, finding 3 caches en route based in and around the coastal area. In terms of ocean ridge it was a new housing development although as with so many other areas they were selling by patch of land so people could build what they want. It is always nice seeing peoples idea of their dream home, as well as thinking how I would develop each piece of land which had such varying profiles.
I then headed up through the empty streets with land patches for sale to begin the short caching trail through farmland and up hills. Apparently Kaikoura has had a lot of rain recently which made the paths slightly wet and muddy, although I guess it is good to stuck straight in with my new trainers! In all I found all but one of the caches I hoped to find up on walking comparable to the UK countryside, although it started to drizzle by the end which signalled my time to head back to the hostel.
Arriving back by around 6ish, I just cracked straight on with dinner which this evening was steak casserole with rice which was nice and easy, mainly because this kitchen actually had pans! From here it was all a pretty relaxing evening, checking out the town briefly before heading back to the hostel to fulfil a promised Skype call. When finishing I just went to my room, although it wasn't all relaxing as the girl in my room dropped her shampoo out of the window which meant I kindly volunteered to go round the back to retrieve it!
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