Day 6 - Kaikoura

This is a back blip.

I will have to wait a few days more before I can properly check in on blippers’ journals and respond to comments.  Our day was very full again today.  I’m starting to sound like a broken down record now!!

We had a very early start this morning, as we had to board our coach from Christchurch to Kaikoura at 7:30am.  It was a very comfortable coach with just one stop at Cheviot at 9:15am.  We arrived in Kaikoura at 9:20am and headed straight to Café Chiwis for something to eat and a much-needed coffee.  That done, we walked up the hill to our accommodation, checked in and left our luggage, then headed back down to town.  Kaikoura seems to have recovered reasonably well from the devastating earthquake in 2016 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Kaikōura_earthquake), although it hasn’t been an easy journey I’m sure.  We enjoyed walking up one side of the main street and back down the other, poking our noses into shops that interested us and having a good look at what was on offer. Eventually the call of coffee was too strong to resist, so we sat outside a container café and enjoyed it in the sunshine.

We decided where we’d go for dinner and made a booking then stopped in at a new pub/restaurant for a drink and a chat before heading back to the motel to shower and change for dinner.  It was only a short walk back down the hill to Zephyr restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious meal - John Dory for Mr MacD and me; lamb for our friends - then a quick walk back up the hill to our motel and an early night.  During the night there was very heavy wind and rain - quite scary at times.

Main blip: murals on the side of the toilets in Cheviot and in Kaikoura
Extra: views of the Seaward Kaikoura Range; a Pachystegia Insignis plant; carriage wheels outside the Kaikoura Museum; and a bus stop in Kaikoura