Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd April 2026
Our journey north continues, heading broadly towards Picton and the ferry across to the North Island on Thursday afternoon.
The Seal Colony:
Still experiencing dreadful weather, around 30 minutes drive north of Kaikoura, we stopped to see the seals. The seal colony here is far more impressive than any we had seen so far, with many pups playing and being nursed by their mothers.
You get a grandstand view of the colony as the road is elevated above the rocky area that the seals occupy. It was blowing a hoolie and the sea was rough beyond the rocks.
But many of the pups seemed to be having great fun in a natural swimming pool, away from the drama:
Blenheim:
The small town of Blenheim is a pleasant enough place, with a reasonable shopping centre that has a good range of shops. We found wide streets with shops of each side, all with canopies covering the pavements, which created a nice sheltered environment.
We had parked on the railway station car park, which allows just 60mins free parking. Not really enough if you are going to spend time shopping, as it is a 10 minute walk..
Picton:
The harbour town of Picton is a thriving and vibrant place. There is a huge marina with many large gin palaces moored there and impressive houses stacked up the hill behind.
We spent Wednesday wandering around whilst some work was being done on the motorhome. The weather had improved, which helped. We also had a good lunch in the Seabreeze Cafe and Bar, which faces the waterfront.
One of the oldest hotels in the town, is Oxley’s. When we saw it, it was mostly covered in scaffolding:
The following day, before boarding the ferry to the North Island, we explored a little further along the north coast and the lovely marina at Waikawa Bay:
The ferry was running late, so we had quite a wait. New Zealand seems to have many old cars and old car enthusiasts. While we waited, we watched a small group of people, do running repairs to the dynamo on one such vehicle. I think they were glad of the delayed sailing.
The route out to the Cook Strait from Picton, follows a convoluted route through the network of fjords, which are beautiful. The sun was low ing the sky as we sailed through, which added to the atmosphere.
That is it for now. TTFF and see-u-later.
"See-u-Later" 