The Kaikoura Coast

Looking for a place to spend the night we ventured off the main road onto a dirt track towards Ward Beach. After reading that it was a reserve and that camping was not allowed we were about to leave when a scruffy fellow approached us and said that we could camp on his farm. We took him up on his offer and parked with another van (an older local couple) on a flat section of grass. I briefly chatted with the boys about the state of the nation and informed them that Zimbabwe was not part of South Africa. Farmer boy was very happy because he'd just sold some sheep in town and bought himself a car. We woke up to a beautiful morning and strolled along the beach to a seal colony about 30 minutes away.

Kaikoura is an amazingly picturesque town, with snow-capped mountains tapering off into the sea. Tourists flock to it's shores to swim with dolphins or to go whale watching but fortunately for us there was a heavy fog, so we didn't see too many tourists. Kaikoura means crayfish food in Maori and it's famous for the stuff. On our way out we pulled into Nin's Bin, a roadside caravan that has been selling crayfish since 1977, and bought ourselves a whole cray with garlic butter. So, so fresh.