Picton to Kaikouri

It's election night tonight in Australia, after the rigours of one election in old Blighty this is one election too many for me.  So here is a quick report on the West Coast leg of my trip to New Zealand.

Most of the journey south towards Kaikouri was along the grey or even black beaches along the Pacific coast of New Zealand.  It was a particularly dull day.  When you are taking photographs it becomes more apparent just how dark it is.  The highlight of the day for me was seeing the seal colonies on the rocks, sometimes quite close to the highway so all you had to do was park up and see the big blubbery things lazing around on the rocks.

Blubbery Things

I don't think it was the right time of year to be in Kaikouri but it was a pleasant enough stay there with a walk along the coast and a wholesome organic meal served by a wholesome English wench, sorry, erm waitress.  We had a table of what turned out to be five brothers sitting next to us.  I mentioned that we were two of seven.  One of them said, on the way out, that they were five of nine but four couldn't make it due to international commitments.  I think he was lying and the Broughtons ran out winners by seven to five.