Monday 16 March

We wondered what the weather would be like this morning, due to Cyclone Pam passing close to the east coast of the North Island, and then coming south - how close we don't know yet. It wasn't raining but was very overcast, we asked Jonnie on the hotel desk what to expect. We are heading up the coast today and taking the 11 a.m. Ferry on Tuesday morning. We were told it would probably not be a very nice day, getting worse as we approached Picton, in the north where we get the ferry. Swells of 8 metres were expected for Tuesday morning! We set off and it remained overcast with the sun trying to get through right until about noon, better than expected. We did a detour to Gore Bay to see the Cathedral cliff formations and had a walk along the deserted beach, things were still quite calm. We made our next stop at Kaikoura about 11:30 where we had a coffee and then visited The Fyffe House, which was built by a Scottish settler who realized there was a lot of money to be made whaling here. He was one of the first settlers and was soon joined by his nephew. Very interesting house. We also went to Kean Point to see the seals lounging around, the guidebook says don't get within 10 metres of them, or between them and the water. I guess nobody told the seals! They were lounging on the pebble beach, some under the bushes and didn't care when you walked by. We even saw one waddle across the beach and a girl had to scramble to get out of the way quick.

We then left town and it started to drizzle, and gradually got heavier as we made our way north. Two and a half hours further to Picton, when we arrived we went straight to the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum where they have the Edwin Fox, the worlds third oldest wooden ship, which was built of teak in Calcutta and launched in 1853. It has been used to carry troops to the Crimea, convicts to Australia and immigrants to New Zealand. The ship is preserved under cover and you are allowed on it, including down the hold, it is quite the ship to see.

We checked into the lodge and were told the Cyclone has been downgraded and our crossing tomorrow, while not pleasant, will not be as bad as previously expected. Good news! I did buy some sea sickness tablets specially made by a pharmacist in Kaikoura (where they do whale watching trips in rough seas on a regular basis) so hopefully I'm prepared.

We've just been for a walk and had a fish and chip dinner, choosing your fish isn't as easy as at home, I don't recognize a lot of the names of fish. I had Tarakihi, Ian had Orange Roughy, what can I say "he's not as adventurous as me".

We have borrowed a couple of dvd's from the lobby, they don't seem to mind how many, just bring them back in the morning. It says a lot about the people and travellers here, the motel people are all very friendly and everything is spotless, I expect the travellers all leave the rooms in a good state and everyone is happy. Very pleasant I must say.