And On To Kaikoura

Once at Picton, on Thursday afternoon, we picked Steven and Theresa up for the journey to Kaikoura and the wedding tomorrow.

Driving south  we were viewing country side we hadn't seen in many years.
At first it was just taking in the new lie of the land of the South Island but then the horror of the drought was all too noticeable.
Hard to believe the green of Picton was just a few kilometers north.

The only green is a vineyard

Little pockets of green became less and less

How farmers survive I will never know

Finally we reached the shore of the northeast coast of the South Island. Not long until we would be at Kaikoura.

We dropped Steven and Theresa off at their motel and went to find our little cottage I had booked for accommodation.
Driftwood Cottage was owned by an elderly man who rented it to couples for a great price and although it seemed like we had stepped back into the 70's, it had everything we needed and straight across the road from the beach.

Once unpacked and settled I wanted to take a photo of the view from the gate. But people were strolling past all the time to take in the last of the evening sun.



But then there was a couple and one of them run in front of me jumping up and down to be funny. And as I looked I saw it was my father and sister out for a walk!!

They came in to look at where we were staying and then went on their way, and I was able to get a photo of the view of the bay looking north.

Kaikoura beach with the Seaward Kaikoura Range

And then Katrina's moment had arrived in the form of Callum, a special man who she had met 7 months ago to the day. They had longed for this day and it bought a tear to the eye to see how special it was.

It was getting late so we all climbed into the Isuzu and went off to look for some fish and chips for tea.