It was a pretty spectacular drive over the hills to get out of the Marlbrough Region. Eventually the road came right back down to the seaside at Nelson, where we stopped briefly to fill up our water tank. From Nelson, we continued along the coast to Motueka. We stopped for ‘Kafe und Kuchen’ by the… Read more

Happy Birthday Pappa Martin!  Given our poor nights sleep, we were quite glad to be having to get an early start today. The morning was quiet (at last!) and fresh. We boarded our water taxi at 7.30am and sped off across the sound. It took over an hour to get round to ‘Ship Cove’ where… Read more

The day dawned bright and blue again. The wind had dropped and we were woken by the sound of local surfers turning up for morning session at our campspot – ‘The Meatworks’. This time we were happy to spectate as we had our breakfast. There were some good guys to watch! They were both good… Read more

Another day and another dolphin sighting! Well our brief brush with overcast skies seems to have ended. The van was filled with light this morning as we woke and pulled the curtains aside to check the surf. There really are some pretty impressive looking mountains behind us! The Kaikoura Range, I’m told. They seem so… Read more

Today I surfed one of my longest waves of the trip, then as I turned to paddle back out saw a dolphin jump clean out of the water a do a somersault! Quality! There were a few rain drops still falling when then noise of the waves woke us this morning, but blue sky seemed… Read more

Drove north today to a small peninsula town called Kiakoura. But not before dipping our toes in the sea and enjoying a delicious breakfast outside. The journey took us through barren rolling hills and plenty of well kept vineyards. We stopped at a few deserted beaches when the highway came close to the sea, but… Read more