The Brown Fur seal

We arrived late afternoon yesterday in Kaikoura to a sparkLing sea and glorious sun after a hot and rather humid day. The Brown Fur seals at the colony on the point were basking in the sunshine. After we had eaten in town the sunset was spectacular over the mountains.

What happened next - we woke up this morning to grey cloud and drizzle, something like a sea fret in Scarborough, but the seals were still there when we went to look again before leaving. Wonderful to watch and very close to the car park as Paula J discovered a couple of weeks ago. Good job we hadn't planned on a whale watch trip though.

We headed up state highway 1, a bit like it's name sake in California in that it borders the Pacific Ocean. Despite the grey skies the ocean was a wonderful milk blue colour and we passed numerous Brown Fur seal colonies en route with too many seals to even attempt to count.

We are now in Marlborough, home of the wonderful wines produced here. It is still grey but fine and we are staying in the Vintners Boutique hotel right in the vineyard. A bit posh eh! Well it is as good a way to start the second half of our holiday. We will certainly be enjoying some of the lovely wine here and maybe do a wine tour tomorrow. The weather won't matter much for that!