Tuesday, April 08, 2014

From Lavender To Seals In Kaikoura

Since we had stayed at a lavender farm overnight, we decided to get some pictures in their gardens. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of lavender left in bloom. It was still very pretty though. I enjoyed lavender tea and lavender honey on fresh scones for breakfast. Dave ate three eggs which had been laid that morning!
After breakfast, Dave and Donny participated in a Maori cultural experience. (Dave will need to write his own blog post about his bone carving and Maori experiences!) I decided to undertake the 11.6 kilometre (just over 7 miles) Kaikoura Peninsula Walk. The first few kilometres were just going through town and not very interesting. However, after I passed the Point Kean Seal Colony, the views and walking improved considerably.
I was walking along a cliff with the ocean below me and it was gorgeous. I ran into enough people that I didn't feel completely alone, but few enough people that it didn't feel overpopulated. Unfortunately two things conspired to make the walk less than pleasant. Sadly, I have caught yet another cold. sigh. So I was low on energy and short of breath. Second of all, the last part of the walk was not well signed and I went in the wrong direction. Therefore, instead of finishing the walk, I completed a 25 minute walk only to end up in the same place. And I still had another half hour of walking left. The last few blocks of the walk, back in town, I was practically limping and couldn't wait to sit down and take off my shoes!
The views were incredible though and the weather was fairly cooperative -- it only rained slightly for part of the time.
I convinced the others that we really all needed to make a trip to the seal colony before we left town and they agreed. And then we had a three and a half hour drive to Nelson. I was so wiped out from my three hour walk and my cold that I slept most of the way there. We got settled into our B&B for the night, grabbed some supper, and went to bed. Despite my afternoon nap, I had a good night's sleep. I think I have being sick and still being slightly jet lagged to thank for that.

*To read about Days 5 and 6, go here.

5 comments:

  1. Um, I am not sure I could walk 7 miles even WITHOUT a cold or jet lag! Wow! New Zealand looks incredibly amazing! And I saw that Princess Kate and baby George from England were also visiting New Zealand this week- maybe you can happen to run in to them....and get past the security.....haha :)! (And I love how "New Zealand" is popping up on my reader feed because I know it is you!) Have a wonderful rest of the trip!

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  2. "Dave ate three eggs which had been hatched that morning!" Does that mean he ate chicks!?! Enjoying your posts! Looks like your trip is off to an amazing start!

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  3. Marv and I did the Kaikoura Coastal Trail and I remember the scenery as being spectacular! I also enjoyed your account of the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. Enjoy, and hope you feel better soon!

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  4. I love that you all stayed on an lavender farm. I can only imagine the smells. How awesome that you got to see a seal. I'm sorry that you got turned around on your walk. =9

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  5. Well, I wouldn't have thought I could have handled a 7 mile walk, but I am thinking I would have enjoyed that walk more than the over 10 mile walk around the city we enjoyed last week...and I was not wearing comfortable shoes at all! Sigh. The seals and lavender farm were neat to see, and the scenery was beautiful of course. And yes, we are leading parallel lives right now since I too got a terrible cold while on vacation. Ha!

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