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Saturday 17th February, we sampled the local delights of Kaikoura's seafood, including a large crayfish (with chips). We got up early on the sunday to make it to the boat for the Whale trip, armed with herbal anti-sickness tablets and wrist-bands. After only half an hour we saw 'Nick' the sperm-whale, who was the size of a bus, absolutely amazing experience.
Sunday 18th February, a brief detour to Chirstchurch to pick up our new van, Squid. Whereas Maui was a knackered out old Toyota, some 14 years old, Squid is a new automatic Toyota with AC and all mod-cons! Much more comfortable, a bit easier on the back, and with tinted windows, to keep all the nosey campers from staring at us. We stayed in the top10 capsite that night and enjoyed a spa, before leaving for Hanmer on the Monday.
Hanmer springs has a collection of thermal and mineral spas, perfect for soothing sciatica, but a little smelly. Some of the spa's were a little too hot. The campsite was a very peaceful one, set by a rugby pitch, with fantastic views of the surrounding hills.
We left Hanmer on Wednesday 21st February, driving through Marui Springs, Greymouth. We stopped for lunch in Pancake Rocks, which had a very tropical feel about it, lots of palm trees, and large rocks, looking like stacked pancakes. We stayed the night in Cape Foulwind, and did the 'cape foulwind coastal walk' the next day, narrowly missing a crop-spraying helicopter. We stayed in Murchison that night, moving onto the Nelson Lakes National Park on Friday 23rd Feb. With lovely views of Kerr and West Bay, we did the Lake Rotoiti walk up to whisky falls, before heading back to our campsite in Murchison for another night. The next day we headed for Lake Rotoroa and did the Braeburn Walk, and headed for Motueka to camp.
On Sunday 25th Feb we walked part of the famous Abel Tasman track, in the National Park of the same name. A beautiful part of the coast, with endless golden bays and secluded caves, only accessible by boat or kayak. The next day we walked along the Pohara Beach, where there is a great conservation effort to protect the unusual sand dunes there. We drove to 'Pupu Springs' (aka Waikoropupu) where they claim to have the clearest springs in the world, and indeed, the clarity was amazing. You could see the bottom of the deep river, where some 14,000 litres of water per second emerges. It seemed free from 'Didymo' the dreaded moss/algae which is considered a biohazard. The rest of the day we spent driving to Cape Farewell and the Farewell Spit, where we started a walk to pillar point, but had to stop towards the end because of the strong high winds. We continued on towards Nelson, another beautiful drive.
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