Down Under January 2014 | The end of a long day -- but that was two days ago

We are able to post!

W are finally settled in to our not-so-hot motel in Kaikoura (the view is nice) and needing to catch up on our sleep. It's about 20 hours door to door: 16+ hours San Francisco to Christchurch and about a 2.5 hour drive to Kaikoura on the east coast just north of Christchurch. Immigration and customs is a lengthy three-step process in which they checked our hiking gear (no animal dung on my boots!), and of course I had a lot of gf supplies that I had to declare and dig out of my bag. It all adds up.

Between naps I was able to get my first glimpse of NZ (Americans will need to practice saying ZED, not ZEE). There are sheep, sheep and more sheep grazing but no sign of farm houses or sheep herders. The hills outside of Christchurch are beautifully green--a mix of groves and fields, especially the Waipara Valley. It's a spectacular oasis of vineyards and verdant hills. There are wineries lining the road so we stopped at Waipara Springs where we tasted our first local wines, a flight of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Reisling, and shared an abundant lunch platter of meats and cheeses, local NZ salmon, fresh fruits, greens, olives, hummus and a tomato relish (not together!), and for me, some toasted gluten free bread. We opted for the Pinot Gris, but on the few hours of sleep we'd managed on the plane, and the drive still ahead of us, we took a bottle to go. It's already the 30^th here, so tomorrow night is New Year's Eve and it won't last long..

We are off whale watching tomorrow morning hopefully and for a hike. They had to cancel the last sailing of the day today due to weather, so there is no guarantee we will go tomorrow morning as planned. It's clear and sunny tonight, so let's hope so. I'm packing some warm things just in case, and hope to stay dry. According to the promotion you can expect to see the big five: sperm whale, Hector's dolphin, the dusky dolphin, the NZ fur seal and the bottlenose dolphin.

Not sure when I will get this posted as I can't access the wi-fi here at the hotel without paying (cheap-o) and I'm too tired to walk back to town to a cafe. Off to bed with a good book.