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Hello,
We are now in Kaikora and it is hot! It has been about 30degrees today and we went for a walk early in the morning but it was seriously hot. Tomorrow we are cycling up what appears to be a vertical mountain on the gradient graph so are going to leave at 7am. I know that isn't early for everyone gonig to work but hopefully it will mean that we survive the day! Today we went for a walk around a peninisular which was stunningly beautiful (as usual). The sea is turquoise to the point that you would think it was spray painted and there was the sea on one side and mountains on the other. there are even a couple of mountains with snow on the top, which is really hard to believe when you are baking hot!
Yesterday we did a 75km day along the cost past seal colonies which was wonderful. We were cycling along and could hear this wailing/barking noise so stopped. There were dozens of seals along the cost! Initally I could see one and then the rocks started moving and could see another and another. The big ones would get themsleves into a comfortable position in the sun and then flop but the babies were really active. There were also seals playing in the water and we were anly about 20m away! Cycling is definately the way to travel, you get to stop wherever you feel like stopping to look at the view (which I feel like donig a lot more when we are going uphill) and you get to hear all the sounds of the wildlife which you just wouldn't get in a car. I am also getting seriously smug when I see coachloads of tourists sleeping on the coach and missing out on the views.
One of the things that I have learnt is that when in New Zealand if a sign says it is going to take 3 hours to do a walk it will definately take at least 3 hours. In the UK I usually assume that the time is for families with small children but not here. I met a man in a bike shop (which I am quckly becoming adicted to) who said he was interested to hear that as he was part of the walking guiding people and they usually did the walk and then half the time to provide a guide for other people. Scary!
I need to go, I am going to the beach to swim in the sea for the first time off New Zealand this afternoon but thank you for your emails.
love
Hannah
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