The hills all around Blenheim are brown, we don’t know whether this is normal or because of the drought they’re experiencing at the moment, but they are called the Wither Hills so perhaps that gives a clue. These hills kept us company for quite a way south, then changed to become more mountainous with proper peaks and fir trees. The individual hills have intriguing names such as Jamie’s Knob and to even up the sexes, Jeannie’s Knob (!!), Mount Horrible and Mount Misery, and the Wart. Again the roads are very twisty and climb and fall with monotonous regularity….but it’s anything but monotonous! You run out of superlatives in this glorious country – every corner brings a new sight; a valley cut into the hills, a village (or even a single dwelling) nestled high on the hills with only a dirt track for access; a stream bed (mostly dry now) littered with boulders; sheep clinging to steep slopes – then you round another bend and you’re in a flat plain with hills in the distance. We took some lovely photos of the cloud topped Seaward Kaikoura Range mountains as we reached Clarence
(still no snow on the tops) then a little further on, at Paparoa Point we had a most delightful encounter with seals! There were dozens of them swimming in the rough waves and basking on the rocks, no more than about 20ft from the road. 
They were totally oblivious to all the humans who were photographing them. The shoreline is very rocky with lots of inlets along this stretch of road so although mainly fairly level, the road twists and turns with each corner unveiling another VIEW!The railway line runs right along the side of the road, often where the pavement would be with no barrier between the two. The line crosses the road at several points and disappears into tunnels in the hills when there isn’t enough room for both road and rail between mountain and sea. And this time we actually saw a train on the move!
Kaikoura, famous for its whale, dolphin and albatross watching, is a starting point for walking and touring in the region so has loads of backpacker accommodation and not much else, so we were quite pleased we hadn’t booked to stay there. At this point, we phoned ahead and booked our accommodation in Christchurch so as not to be caught out like in New Plymouth. We’ve found that even if a place is marked on the map in large letters, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is anything there except a solitary house, so you can’t rely on even finding a loo stop!After Kaikoura, the road goes inland and more mountains appear with names like Solomon’s Throne, Mount Beautiful and Ned’s Farewell but it’s difficult to pick them out individually as there’s so many. We stopped at Cheviot for coffee and stickies (and the loo, of course). Signs everywhere warned that as the authorities had found bacterial organisms in the water supply, all water used for washing vegetables and fruit, and for cleaning teeth and dishes should be boiled for at least a minute before using!
From about Amberley, you start to enter Christchurch’s suburbs with a noticeable change in the scenery. Many more houses on flat land and the roads become much wider – 2 wide lanes with a shoulder AND a parking lane is not uncommon. The directions for our Motel, the Adelphi, were straightforward, so despite it being rush hour, we arrived here about 5.00pm. This is the largest suite we have had. Two bedrooms, huge lounge/diner,
nice size kitchen and a proper bathroom with separate loo and shower, all for NZ$125 per night (at roughly NZ$2.5 = £1 you can work it out). Breakfast is not included in most motel prices but we cater for ourselves anyway. The owners here are very pleasant and helpful as are most of the motel owners. There are varied services available at each motel but most have a laundry (differing prices from free wash, small cost for drying to $3 for a wash and $5 for a dry). This place is close to the centre of town and a lot of the visitor attractions.We walked into town yesterday evening, found the RSA club, and had a splendid meal for half the cost of anywhere else. We then had a meander through the centre, saw the restaurant tram in front of the cathedral
and got our bearings for when we “do” Christchurch proper on Saturday. We’re here for 4 nights as we’re using it as a base for visiting Akaroa tomorrow and also going on the Trans Alpine train (a full day) on Sunday. It’s very strange after only staying at most places for 1 night.Unfortunately, although wireless internet is here, there is a fault on it and Tom cannot get out to the net so he’s going to take the laptop with us tomorrow and see if he can log on elsewhere. If you get this post, he obviously has!!
We’re having an early night, and no alarm tomorrow, so we’ll say bye for now.
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