New Zealand – North to the Sun

The Snail was packed, I had a breakfast of half a tin of sweetcorn and an apple. Well I didn’t want to waste it, it was all I had left! I had a plan for a proper breakfast in Oxford on my way North.
I am cooking for myself where I can and making sandwiches but sometimes I just want breakfast with no washing up
I’m definitely going to have to return to New Zealand as I’m not going to see everything this trip! There is too much and I want to do it slowly.
Anyway I’m heading back to the North Island to collect Lee when he arrives next weekend.
I stopped at Cruisy Days Dinner for a second and full breakfast. I had stopped here before for tea and cake on my way South. Its 1950s themed and its quirky with good music. https://www.cruisydays.co.nz/
I’ll put up a picture of Oxford, it just illustrates how straight everything is in this area.

I was heading for Kaikoura first, this is an area famous for spotting whales, although you probably need to go out in a boat.
Setting off again, I eventually ended up on a main route but it was still pretty quiet driving. I was along side a rail line much of the way.

This little building is like something out of a Studio Ghibli cartoon (could just hear the music in my mind by Joe Hisaishi, (I know Paris will understand the reference) So odd in the middle of nowhere!
In the middle of nowhere was right, I was getting low on fuel and there didn’t appear to be any towns or petrol stations on my route and there wasn’t any other way either. I checked my phone for the nearest and it was at Kaikoura, miles away. Not knowing the Snail and how far she would go before she was empty I was getting anxious.
Route 1, a main arterial road as you go South suddenly narrows, loops and turns to get round the ever increasing hills.
In my ever increasing anxiety I just couldn’t enjoy the beauty of the area.
Would I get up the next hill, or stop in the middle of road works and cause a major jam? The road meanders down to the coast and I mean right on the sea edge! The rail track is land side and just as twisting as it negotiates the edge of the island. Was I going to stop in a single file tunnel? I was a bag of nerves!
When I could I pulled off onto a camp site to find out where the nearest fuel was. Not far 7 km the woman said and I was thinking, I could walk that if I had to abandon the snail.
I made it! The snail was refuelled and I bought myself some Liquorice Allsorts as consolation. They were a surprise, huge and like petit fours! I was in heaven I ate the lot!

Kaikoura is very touristy and I didn’t have enough time to walk the peninsula. That said the sea was blue, the sun shining and I enjoyed a late lunch and wrote my postcards.
I wandered through an arbour of whale ribs and watched the birds.

I then had a leisurely drive to my accomodation at Koromiko. I stayed in this funny cabin, it was quite smart inside.

I really wanted a shower but the showers had been invaded by chickens (yes pretty rural here!)The cicadas were singing as it got dark, its a soothing sound but I was cold. I was just toying with the idea of getting my sleeping bag when a cockerel crowed and it was 5am in the morning!