Two superlative days, but tiring. We drove south from Blenheim under clearing skies, stopping at the Seal Colony and Kaikoura, where the mountain views were immaculately superb. The countryside, surprisingly for me, was covered in dried grassland, apart from where fields were being watered for cows or sheep to graze. After Kaikoura, we diverted inland on a lonely road to Waiau, where we had tea/beer in an English country garden surrounded by mombretias(?), dahlias and petunias. (The South Island vegetation is less exotic than North Island's). Mary wanted to buy the hotel attached to the garden. Eventually, after a long sunny drive south, we reached Christchurch, and our hotel in Cathedral Square. We looked like country bumpkins entering a posh hotel in tee shirts and shorts! But we brazened it out and went off to enjoy
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