The next day we decided to break the journey with a few stops in the wine-making region around Blenheim. As we travelled we were surrounded on all sides by fields full of vines. First stop was the Fromm vineyard where Vic had a tasting and bought a bottle of their 2002 Pinot Noir. Next was the Cellier Le Brun, famous for its champagne-style sparkling wines and a passion-fruit flavoured Sauvignon Blanc, a bottle of each of which was duly purchased. We then stopped for lunch at the Montana winery.

After lunch it was down the coast road to Kaikoura, passing some dramatic glacial hill scenery. As we drove along there was a loud crack and to our dismay a nasty ding appeared in the middle of the windscreen caused by a stone kick up by a car passing in the opposite direction. It didn’t affect the visibility so we didn’t need to get it repaired immediately but it would need to be replaced before the van could be used by another customer.

Arriving in Kaikoura in the mid-afternoon, we parked up and walked into town to buy some gloves for the next days whale-watching expedition. We then walked down to the stony beach to sit and watch the waves; looking out to sea we spotted movement and with the aid of binoculars we were lucky enough to watch a number of whales breaking the surface and diving less than a kilometre off-shore. We watched enthralled for a while until the light started to fade, at which point we returned to the van and then back into town for some dinner.