Leaving Kaikoura and travel to Hanmer Springs

The next day in Kaikoura the plan was to head for Hanmer Springs. But prior to driving in that direction I had a nice chat in the kitchen area. A guy also staying there had an unrecognizable accent. He (Wybe) however turned out to be a Frisian already living in New Zealand for the last 10 years. We chatted about al kinds of subjects and he recommended a backpackers near Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. After drinking a cup of coffee and exchanging e-mail and phone number he invited me to visit him. Most likely on thursday I will drive to his ranch. 

The seal colony i visited the previous day by bike had a viewing point which I still wanted to check out. Being there it turned out to be the start of a walkway around the peninsula. The weather was great so I decided to do the entire walk. In total it took me about 2.5 hours and halfway I enjoyed a nice Paua sandwich. I can really recommend doing this walk in case the weather is nice. 


As a result of the walk my trip to Hanmer Springs started later then initially planned. The road from Kaikoura to Hanmer Springs is a nice scenic road and has a couple of climbs with a lot of curves. The 125 km can be driven in under 2 hours. You pass through a largely deserted valley (no actual villages at all), which is hard to imagine coming from the Netherlands.