New Zealand -Marlborough - Kaikura

The south island has more land space and population compared with the north. Picton and Nelson are the cities on the north shore. The Tasman sea separates New Zealand on the west from Australia. We headed east towards Bleinhem and the Marlborough wine trail. The area has sea on one side and high hills on the other. A wind seems to run between the rows of vines and this may be the secret to the very successful wine industry. This area is known for excellent sauvignon blanc. Cloudy Bay, Oyster Bay, Montana and many more well known vineyards are settled between the hills, but the best vineyards are the small single owner cellar doors where you can taste the various harvests. Most of their releases sell out very quickly.

We stayed at a great place in the wine area called the Marlborough B&B. The hosts, Philip and Marilyn Cowe, had a beautiful renovated country home. Philip provided us with his expert advice on cellar doors and off we went on the wine trail. There were so many interesting wines it's difficult to capture them all, but i would say some of the best white wines I have ever tried were available. In particular the Rieslings and Sauvignon Blanc were featured in this area. It was a warm sunny day and the we had dinner in the garden with our hosts and it was a very pleasant evening.

Next day we headed south to Kaikura where the whales and seals enjoy the perfect conditions for a constant food source. The weather was coming from the south (Antarctic air) which really changed the temperature. Along the road we tried freshly caught crayfish which is like a lobster without front claws and incredibly large mussels called green bay mussels.

As the day progressed the weather cleared and suddenly the mountains appeared from the window of our bed and breakfast in Kaikura. As we walked along bay road to the seal colony where brown seals were enjoying the sun. The seals in this area tend to be males that failed to catch a mate. As we took their pictures with the other tourists one of the big males came up from the beach to challenge us. We found out later the best thing to do is duck so you do not appear larger than the challenging male and do not get between a seal and the water. The good thing is they can't run in those flippers. It's a bit like trying to run with swimming fins on - it really slows them down.

We saw interesting birds and tried some fish at the local stand. Across the road from the seal colony, there was sheep shearing and the ever present brown mountains.