From Kaikoura to Christchurch

Monday afternoon wie reach Kaikoura. The drive along the east coast was breathtaking, what wie did not know or even expect were the snow covered mountains glittering in the sun.

Kaikoura is a little town at the beach with only about 3800 inhabitants but 800 000 tourists per years. It is lovely and famous for crayfish, whale watching and a seal colony and a lot of shops and cafes and restaurants. We notice that it is getting winter, as it's really cold outside and some hotels and shops and the little museum are closed. That is a pity, I would have loved to learn about whale catching.

The old whaling station.

There are many of those little chapels close to the roads.

So cute!

On our walk around the peninsula it starts to rain so heavily that Friedhelm wants to throw himself into the waters.

Unfortunately the rain and the weather are getting worse so that we decide to go further south.

The next stop is Cheviot, a little village where we have coffee in a coffee shop and art gallery.

We are really impressed how many small local art galleries there are in this country. The quality of sculptures and paintings we saw is really high level, not comparable with Germany.

We stay overnight in Gore Bay. There is a long beach and some summer houses. The rain is getting even worse and the next morning we see some floodings. Luckily the roads are fine.

On our last drive to Christchurch we have a wine tasting and lunch at Waipara Hills winery.