Kaikoura to Akaroa and More Pictures

Let me just finish explaining what happened since Kaikoura, with another batch of photos, while Emily prepares dinner.

After all the excitement of seals and cows, not to mention the stress of a broken Leland and the ordeal of replacing him, we were anxious to get to Hanmer Springs, known in the area for its soothing, hot outdoor thermal pools. When we arrived, after over an hour's drive through the mountains where we saw literally NO other cars on a New Zealand State Highway - we're quickly learning that it doesn't take much for even the humblest country road to get upgraded to the national level here - we saw that the tiny mountain town has very little else aside from a complementary infrastructure of hotels, motels, campsites and tourist information centres.

We raced to get ourselves settled into one of the campsites before heading to the pools, eager to squeeze as much relaxation time in before it closed. The brisk night was superbly clear, with a bright full moon shining over the 40 degree waters (I don't yet know how that translates into fahrenheit, sorry Americans), after which we came back to the campsite to attempt to forge a meal out of the only remaining scraps of food we had. The result was sweet potato on toast.

Unfortunately, that night we also discovered that Leland 2 had sprung a leak - just another of his problems. Whenever we tried to fill the onboard tank of water from which the tap and shower operate, he simply spurt the water out all over the floor. Considering that we'd been thinking of his predecessor as a pet we had to feed, clean and take to the toilet, it seems Leland 2 has serious bladder problems. In fact, the tank was leaving a trail of steadily dripping water all along the route from Hanmer Springs to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula east of Christchurch, some 200km away, which finally ran out just in time for us to get to a mechanic in our penultimate stop. As a result, there was nothing he could do, so we're just going to have to put up with it until we return Leland 2 on Saturday.

Currently we're at a campsite on a hill overlooking Akaroa, and tomorrow we'll see what the town has to offer before heading back inland to Christchurch for our final day.

The downpours which greeted us upon our arrival in the South Island.

Emily in Nelson, set amongst the hills.

Our first glimpse of the Southern Alps.

Leland (left) passing the baton over to Leland 2 (right).

A seal doing what seals do on the tip of the Kaikoura peninsula.

Emily and the Kaikoura Mountain Range.

An offshore seal colony visible from the peninsula.

Emily pointing to the colony and the Pacific.

Me in a field of cows overlooking the Kaikoura Range.

Emily cycling towards Hanmer Springs.