Christchurch to Kaikoura

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We get up and store our bags at the hotel to pick up later. We run by the Internet café to send a few e-mails. We stop at a little take-away place for lunch since they have fried chicken and it appeals to Michael. We then go down to Colombo Street and look through some of the outdoor outfitters since we didn’t have a lot of time yesterday and most were having Sales. We go into Kathmandu, an Australian store that also is mail-order. They have a t-shirt I just can’t do without. It has a backpacker on it and the phrase “Live the Dream”. This is the slogan for Kathmandu and has become our mantra for the trip.
We go back to our hotel, pick up our bags and walk the two blocks to the transport office. The bus ride to Kaikoura is pretty uneventful until we reach the peninsula where Kaikoura is located and the seaside road is beautiful. There are huge limestone rocks in the water along the bay and we travel through two tunnels to reach Kaikoura. Since the bus is continuing on, the bus driver does not make stops at individual motels. We pass our motel and continue about 1 km to the bus stop. Michael and I decide we can make the walk instead of taking a taxi. We get to our room, drop our bags and have to make the walk again to get to a restaurant for dinner. We walk along a seaside road where Norfolk pines were planted along the beachside. I always thought Norfolk pines were small trees but these are huge.

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