February 2nd: Seals and tombstones
We drove into Nelson. A small town with a lively, cozy buzz. The town is littered with galleries, cafes and small quirky bars. We discovered Liquid a funky cafe and bar, serving excellent contemporary New Zealand cuisine. Nelson also boasts THE ring maker - Jens Hansen, who made the ring for the Lord of the Rings.

We leave Nelson and drive back though Havelock down to Blenheim, the centre of wine country. The country is more flat. We pass vineyard after vineyard.

On the northern outskirts of Kaikoura we followed a coastal road that contoured rocky bays and sandy beaches. I spotted some black blobs that seemed to be moving on the rocks. We stopped, the rocks were about 20 feet below us and laying on them were hundreds of seals. A mixture of adults and pups, some where sleeping and others were noisy and jumping across the rocks.

We found the Alpine Holiday Park set against the back drop of the mountains. The sun was going down, it was getting late and hunger had called. We went into Kaikoura town and ate at Sonic on the Rocks , a restaurant and bar. It is rented from the church and still sports a tombstone behind the bar.

February 3rd: Whales and dolphins
We were woken early by an 'ark' 'ark' sound and frantic tapping on the camper roof. I hauled myself from sleep and realised it was a seagull, engaging in his early morning work out on the camper van roof.

We went to the Whale Watch office to sort out our trip. We are told the weather was brightening. We take a gamble on the weather and book a trip.

We drove south out of the town to a nearby Seal colony and watch them from the rock. They kept an estuary of water between us and them. Most of them were asleep on the rocks. Behind them in the bay we saw a group of Dusky dolphins playing in the ocean, leaping and somersaulting. We sat for ages just watching and listening to the seals

We went to the Craypot and had some lunch to set us up for the 3.5 hour boat trip.

The Whale Watch operation was slick. We took a coach to a nearby bay and boarded the powerful jet boat that then propelled us across the water at about 35mph. A plasma screen on the boat gave us a detailed presentation about the ocean, geology and whales. We sailed out about 5km off shore.

One of the crew spotted a whale blowing. We pulled about 20 metres away from him - a sperm whale and watch him for about 10 minutes. He then puts his head down, arches his back. The memorable sight of the massive whale tail came to view. An amazing experience.

We saw three further sperm whales. The crew said they had reports of a school of Dusky dolphins nearby. We sailed off and found them. They played around the bow of the boat, scuttling underneath, somersaulting and leaping out of the water. I could have watched them for days. It reminded me of fond memories from Monkey Mia in Western Australia.

We docked at about 6:30pm and went back into Kaikoura town after making some purchases at the Whale Watch gift shop. We ate at the Olive Branch restaurant and coincidentally sat next to a couple that had been on the same Whale Watch trip as us. Kim is from Perth and Jane from Bromley - small world. They now live in Sydney. We chatted for ages over our meals and had a great time. After our meal we met them at Sonic on the Rocks for a drink. We gave then a lift back to their B&B in the back of the campervan. As huge as it was, the Maui struggled to accommodate guests. As we drove along Kim and Jane clung on in the back of the van.