Kaikoura
Kaikoura was the favourite destination of the trip. The town is small but not too small so there is nothing to do or see, there's plenty of shops, pubs and activities. The views are on one side of the mountains, and on the other the ocean in bright colours.
On our way there from Abel Tasman we stopped in Blenheim for lunch at a winery, which was so delicious! On the way into town we stopped to spot lots of seal pups playing in the water and the rocks.
Our original plan was to spend only two full days here and move on to Akaroa as our last stop before going home from Christchurch, but we ended up staying twice as long so we could fit in Dolphin Encounter. We were able to book it for our last original full day, but that was cancelled due to bad weather. Luckily, unlike Tongariro, we had a flexible itinerary for the next days and were able to make it a sunrise swim instead on another day, although this meant we did not have time to go to Akaroa and went straight to Christchurch from Kaikoura.
The big highlight here was our tour wth Kaikoura Kayaks, where we encountered a huge pod of dusky dolphins that stayed to hang out with us for a long time, swimming around and under our kayaks, jumping right in front of us and getting right up close. This was extra special because it was unexpected!
