Kaikoura

Us and our Hungarian friends (Erich and Petra) drove about 125K to Kaikoura for the day. Kaikoura is a little beach town surrounded by all of the beauty promised to us by everyone that had been to the south island before us. We were able to see the Seaward Kaikouras, which is a beautiful mountain range (they are snow-capped in the winters).
We pulled over to see seals resting on large rocks on the shore of the ocean. They didn't seem to mind us getting close to them, but we were not to get between them and the water. It was so amazing to see them in their natural environment.

I think this one was posing for me:
There were so many of them!
Across the street was a short hike to the Ohau Falls:
Katie is modeling them for us:
We drove to the peninsula and went for a walk. We walked mostly on the cliff because it was high tide when we arrived.




Relaxing: (photo by Katie)
It feels so good to be in nature like this:
I think this sheep was posing for me a little too:
Sunset from the car:
The clouds rolled between the mountains all day.