Nelson meets Dave Lee Travis

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Awoke this morning in Kaikoura, sorry that I'm here so briefly? Why? Because the view out my window is gorgeous. So beautiful that I thought I'd share it with my Mum and Dad on Skype, however I gave up when Mum thought she'd seen skyscrapers in the background. Skyscrapers. At a little quaint seaside town, less than 2 hours north of earthquake-devastated Christchurch. Dad just shook his head in disbelief...I just decided to get on the road and drive...

I did a quick drive-by the town centre, which looked gorgeous. It's a shame because Kaikoura is famous for whale watching, yet on my whistle-stop tour, I have only enough time to grab some sushi and a coffee.

About 40 mins north of Kaikoura was a place called Ohau Point, where you could see hundreds and hundreds of seals, including pups, lazing around on the rocks or splashing about in the rock pools. You saw the odd seal give another a thick ear. I could have watched for hours but jumped back into the car - and promptly wrecked the peace and tranquility by popping the key in the ignition, to be greeted by Elton John's Saturday Night blasting out at 100 db. Oops...

I kept going further and further up the coast, through the Marlborough wine region, not stopping for even a sip of the amazing Sauvignon Blanc. I tell you what's also amazing - the fact that even locally produced wine here is three times the price of what it would be at home. Answers on a postcard please...

I arrived at Nelson and was amazed by the size of the place - not what I was expecting. A big town centre on a grid system, but with very pretty architecture around. Nelson is the arts and crafts capital of NZ so I'm going to love it here - as would my sister if she were over here too.

I'm in a mixed dorm tonight and got there first, however it wasn't long before my roomies showed up. A cool, laid back Dane, Rodney from Only fools and horses, and Dave Lee Travis. OK, so Rodney was actually Robin, but with about as much charisma as a wet flannel, and DLT was American. DLT didn't take too kindly to there being a girl in his dorm (he wasn't so quiet about expressing his dislike) so the Dane took him and Rodders out for a meal to get them to chill the hell out. I like the Dane already.

Incidentally have you noticed how I keep seeing celebrity look a likes? Driving me mad - everywhere I look there's someone familiar. Though the DLT thing really did come as a surprise - I'd forgotten all about him and anyone under 30 reading this won't have a clue who I'm on about.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to Abel Tasman for a spot of kayaking hopefully. But for now I'm going to enjoy the peace and crash out, while the boys are out playing...

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