Down the East Coast

On the beach in Kaikoura

Today we made our way southward from wine country down the East Coast. We left Blenheim this morning and made it to the east coast town of Kaikoura for morning tea. Kaikoura is famous for whale watching. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go on a whale watching adventure, but I am fairly certain I saw a whale's water spray in the distance as we were driving. I wasn't fast enough to get a picture. It was a grey day but pretty nonetheless. We enjoyed the pebble beaches and the resident seal colonies. It's pupping season for the fur seals so we got to see all the adorable babies playing in the waves. After tea we continued down the East Coast to Rangiora, where we stopped for lunch, and then onward through Canterbury. The main city in the Canterbury region is Christchurch. We aren't stopping there any more because of the recent earthquake, even though we were originally supposed to. It's very sad and a real shame, since Christchurch is supposed to be one of New Zealand's most beautiful cities. We got to see a bit of the famous Canterbury region as we drove, including the famous Rakaia River.

Rakaia River by Mount Hutt

Since we are bypassing Christchurch, we are staying in the tiny rural town of Methven instead. Methven is really just a ski town. Apparently, all the Kiwi ski bums flock to this area to ski Mount Hood in the wintertime. Right now, at the end of summer, it's just a sleepy little place. It is quite nice though, and we got to eat dinner at one of the most famous pubs on Canterbury - the Blue Pub, where I had some delicious lamb curry and apple cider. So even though we had to change our original plans we are safe and happy on the east coast.

The famous Blue Pub