Kaikoura TOP 10 Holiday Park, 34 Beach Rd. Standard cabin for $80 per night
Friday, February 22: Cloudy and cold at first with a little drizzle, clearing in the course of the day
Had a rather relaxed breakfast of vegemite on toast and coffee, and then made my way to Hanmer Springs for the divine service of the internet. Looks like I lost my hairbrush on the way out—the changeover to this new style of living out of the car and transferring most of the belongings to and fro the accommodation still has to become routine.
In Hanmer at around 10:00 and most of the geography is OK this time around. Problem was that the library didn’t open until 12:00. Did some window shopping, then some real shopping for apples; had a couple of sausage rolls and one of the apples for lunch just after 11:00. Looked at all the brochures in the i-SITE and then it was about time for the library to open, put the car in a 120 minute spot and marched into the library armed with my computer and all its bits.
First some emailing had to be done; then FB attended to; and the main part was getting the three next blog posts adorned with photos scheduled for the next week. Said and done just on the dot of 2:00.
Thrillseekers Canyon (actually Waiau River): exposure bracketed panorama
Drove back towards SH 7 where there is a lookout over the Waiau River, here known as Thrillseekers Canyon and repeated a panorama shot of 2009 that I can play with tonight. Also took the official portrait of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Then headed back towards Waiau, this time via the “scenic” route – part gravel road and apart from the novelty, nothing much. In Waiau took the connecting route to SH# 1 to try to see the Cathedral Cliffs at Gore Bay. Very winding road on either side of SH 1, and in Gore Bay a bit of a disappointment, as the sun was not at the best angle. But nice blue water.
Decided that I would stay in Kaikoura for at least two nights and perhaps do some whale watching. Now even the SH 1 became very winding and steep and I arrived here at about 6:00.
The old motorcamp (Alpine-Pacific Holiday Park, 69 Beach Rd) didn’t have a cabin room for two nights, only two separate rooms for a total of $190; TOP 10 was the next best, and not cheap either. Parked some stuff in the fridge and got a new water bottle freezing, then headed off for a pizza – ham, with a beer for $26 at Passione, 40 West End. French waitress was very chatty, but I’m afraid that looked too much like management policy.
Back here showered while the pictures were being processed and then unpacked the new bedclothes. Will see about walking tomorrow.
Am beginning to think I may have to try some other form of accommodation such as backpackers if the motorcamps are going to be this expensive.
