Actually I wanted to stay in Hanmer Springs longer, but three reasons were driving me to the east coast...

1) It was cold in Hanmer Springs. The shower at the camp was more than hot, but putting a finger outside of the hot water led to immediate frost reactions
2) The camp didn’t offer a hair dryer (so far most of all others had one) . Take the finger story and think about wet hair. On the way back to the camper my hair got really grey.
3) The best excuse: the weather forecast was indicating rain from Thursday on. A chance for half a dry day, still overcast, on Friday. More rain to arrive during the coming weekend. I want to check out whether I get to see whales at Kaikoura (120km away) during this trip- Remember, the first time didn’t work out. So... Only chance: Go now and do the Whale Watch today.

On the way to Kaikoura....



The most beautiful landscape during this trip. If you ever be in NZ and trip around this area, take the route from Hanmer to Kaikoura via the Leader River. I am impressed by the landscape of this route ...
A strong fight with the counter light. Needed to grade down the top part with 5 stops. And I think I could have done better. But the dew on the meadows brings the green to glow and the bushes to reflect ...



The staggered groups of hills with the bands of mist in the far background, the rolling hills ...
That is all on top of the edges of the continental shelfs - The Pacific shelf and the Australian shelf. Christchurch, only 150kms away, is currently (since 9 month) suffering from shelf movements. Some hundreds of quakes including a couple of 5s, 6s and one 7. The latest last Monday night a 5.4.

Shaping the landscape is not done.



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