Day 17 The sea! the sea!

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea. – Isak Dinesen

5th February 2023

After Kaikōura the road continues to run snugly sandwiched between the mountains and sea, with the briny smell of kelp in the air. And what a glorious sea view it is! Absolutely mesmerising. We stopped at a lookout point and saw several seals out on the rocks. They were having such a grand time leaping off the rocks into the sea and then coming back and doing it all over again for the sheer joie de vivre.

There is a commemorative statue and plaque to Tüteurutira and his family at the lookout point. He and his descendants were prominent figures in the history of the Māori peoples of the South Island.

Around the base of the the lookout was a very attractive garden with lawn and two kinds plants that are found in abundance all over New Zealand.

Not long after the lookout, the road moves inland again and twists and turns up and down through the mountains with very sharp, tight turns.

Then, all of a sudden we were back on level ground and shortly after that we found ourselves in Blenheim and wine country.

Blenheim is only 27 km from Piction but it took us 38 minutes to get there because of a short delay due to the ubiquitous road works.

We finally arrived at Picton after a long day’s drive and checked into our AirBnB for the night, the Boat House Apartments. The apartment is on the first floor and has lovely views over a little marina in front of it.

We decided just to go to a supermarket nearby to get pita breads and nice things to put on them for dinner and then to relax and rest.

A lovely tranquil ending to a very interesting road trip. Tomorrow afternoon we get on the ferry back to Wellington.

The sea! The sea! The open sea! The blue, the fresh, the ever free! – Bryan W. Procter 1837