Kaikoura

We led the convoy of two east to the Kaikoura coast for a spot of whale watching this morning.

The rain through the night followed us for a while as we navigated the wiggly mountain roads, but we eventually outran it.

Skirting along the coastal track, we arrived in time for the 10:30 ferry, only to find it cancelled owing to (surprise) poor weather conditions.

Hoping that conditions would improve, we repaired to The Craypot for a leisurely, and in my case, decadently rich breakfast.

It helped with the disappointment

Mushrooms in a port, grain mustard and cream sauce made an unusual first meal of the day, but a welcome one. After a little while our collective sweet tooth was tempted by the dessert menu and soon we were each tucking into one of lemon cheesecake, carrot cake, black forest gateau, and a decidedly local treat of Denheath custard square. All served with cream on the side.

Having filled our bellies with such rich food, the last thing we were fit to do is go on the sea, so it was probably a fortuitous result that the sea conditions had not improved and the day's sailings were all cancelled. This was, understandably, mixed with a fair amount of disappointment. However, the disappointment didn't last long, as a few kilometres' drive farther north led us to Ohau lookout, where a whole seal colony was to be seen.

Mother and pup

Mothers lay languidly outstretched feeding their young, while other pups frolicked in the rock pools, flipping and flapping across the wet surface of the stones.

Playtime

A short walk upstream at Ohau led us to a waterfall, where several of the adolescent pups had escaped for some independence and were busy roly-polying about, away from the more mature seals at the beach.

A short distance along the road we arrived at our designated overnight stop: Waipapa bay.

IT'S ON THE ROOF!!

Identifiable by an incongruous crawfish restaurant, sporting an enormous reproduction of the crustacean on its roof, we had the run of the tiny campsite.

Taking a chilly walk in the rapidly fading sun along the beach, we came into much closer contact with seals than we had at the lookout earlier. This wasn't necessarily a good thing; the campsite owner had warned us to keep our distance as the seals move surprisingly quickly on land and can be vicious, unlike their underwater persona. She said that she had been surprised several times by a seal popping out from behind a rock while she was walking the dog. The seal population has apparently exploded in recent years, largely due to a lack of their natural predator, the shark, to keep the numbers in check.

Keeping a respectful distance

By the light of the moon, K and I barbecued aubergine and parsnip outside while our friends cooked up risotto inside their 'RV'. We combined the two and settled into another round of Gloom.