This morning we were woken before the alarm by a text message (only 10 minutes early, thank goodness). The only benefit of this was that we were just in time to see the sun rise over the Pacific and a rainbow over the mountains across the bay! After breakfast we went to check in for our whale watching trip. The forecast was for winds building during the day so we were pleased to be on an early trip. We were slightly less pleased to see the sea-sickness warning when we checked in. The excursion here is of some 40 odd people on a catamaran which heads out into the ocean hoping to find one of the sperm whales that pass through the area. We are on the second trip of the day and the crews are radioed up to pass on information. The first boat hadn't found a whale when we went out so our skipper took to a different part of the sea in the hope of finding one. After a while there was a bit of activity as a whale had been seen diving - the bad news is that they take 45 minutes or more to surface and it was about half an hours ride away into the north-west swell. The next bit was a test of mental fortitude and stomach strength as things became somewhat choppy and a few people succumbed. We held on. We had been out on the water for the best part of 2 hours when a whale finally surfaced and the view we got gave an impression of size, the power of the spouting and the like before it dived again. At this point we had to head full steam back to the harbour, somewhat behind schedule. Not quite as we had hoped, but it is a matter of luck with these trips.
From Kaikoura we drove along the coast road to Blenheim; an expensive ride as a sneaky policeman with a speed gun was hiding in a farm gate and Pete copped it (ho hum).
Blenheim is the heart of the Marlborough wine country and one gets to a point where it is wall to wall vineyards and a game of spotting the labels one has seen back in the UK. On the way to our B&B we passed Villa Maria, Oyster Bay, Wither Hills and other brands we have seen at home. Our accommodation is in the middle of the Dog Point vineyards - we look out at some Pinot Noir vines. The family of our host here, Kirsty, own the vineyard and, having checked in, we went for a wander over part of the estate and past the winery. We will, we hope, sample some of the product later (and will report) (link here if you are interested http://www.dogpoint.co.nz/. The setting here is lovely - in the hills outside the town (our room is in the building below).
Good news from Rachel too as she is now teaching the former head of department's timetable (with A level classes) and we are keeping our fingers crossed that this will mean full time teaching and a full time contract to go with it.
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