Murchison, Kaikoura & Canterbury ( + Christchurch)

13 – 15th February: Murchison & Kaikoura

We are on our way to Kaikoura. Due to the earthquakes end of 2016 the direct road HS1 from Picton to Kaikoura is closed so we need to drive around to get there which took us an extra 3 hours.

Spent the night at a cute camping next to the river in Murchison when the weather changed again into: RAIN.

The next two nights we stayed at a very nice campsite in Kaikoura right at the beach (very romantic)... and...the sun was finally back.

We went swimming with seals. Those animals are so cute! We swam with them (no touching, no waving, no trying to get their attention). Rick even almost got bitten – that’s how close you actually get to the wild animals.

On the 15th we went on a Whale Watch Flight which again was pretty amazing!

We saw an orca, 2 sperm whales and loads of dolphins: Whales look so big but so peaceful (as our little camera sucks a little bit we could not really take close by pics).

16 – 19th February: In the area of Christchurch

Low cost camping in Amberly. We got invited by a weird guy for dinner. Lesson learned: do not always say ‘yes’ as you cannot trust everyone. Smiley for Rick :)

In Christchurch there currently are big fires :( …horrible for all the people losing their homes… we will continue our journey to Akaroa.

Akaroa is a pretty small city in an astonishing surrounding. It used to be a French settlement until the British claimed it (Camping: Duvauchelle).

It starts raining again.

We tried to pay a visit to Christchurch but due to the rain and the nearby fires we did not. We found a low cost camping in the middle of nowhere. Highlight: our outdoor cheeseplate!!

Currently we are in Waikuku Beach at a friends place. They have this cute litte Air bnb!! Thank you so much Maarten, Iris and your gorgous kids for having us!! Big recommendations for the air bnb (small cottage with your own bathroom)!!