Monday, February 03, at Pete's Farm and then continue on to Kaikoura

The next morning, Pete serves us a delicious breakfast and we meet a young German family with their daughter Lola (1 ½), who arrived in Christchurch just the night before. Pete gives us a nice tour of his land and his animals.

First, we bottle-feed 2 young lambs. One is greedy, the other only drinks after many unsuccessful attempts and only with Reinhard. Pete is delighted and makes Reinhard a first job offer! Then we go to his alpacas and we get to distribute treats. He tells us that his wife spins and knits sheep and alpaca wool. Now we go to his sheep. They come running, but only because Pete, the sheepdog, isn't with them! They also get treats. Pete tells us that the young sheep are sheared every 2 years and the wool of the "thick" sheep has been growing for 12 months and will be sheared soon. Then Pete, the dog, shows us how well he can herd the sheep. He enjoys it and listens to his master! The sheep go into the shearing shed and then Pete shows us how a sheep is sheared. Reinhard gets to be the assistant and receives his 2nd job offer! Pete tells us that he used to be a sheep shearer and sheared up to 200 sheep a day, 7 days a week, from early morning to late at night. 1 NZ$ per sheep. This allowed him to save money to build his own farm and he is now a proud farmer.

Finally, we meet Pete's wife, who takes us to her shop and tells us about sheep and alpaca wool and shows us her really beautiful knitted items. I can't resist a pair of gloves made of alpaca wool. We say a heartfelt goodbye to Pete and his wife and make the short drive to Kaikoura.

We take the coastal road and have views of the Southern Alps and the sea. In the afternoon, we arrive in Kaikoura, a small town and the perfect place for wildlife adventures of all kinds. The landscape is spectacular: the town is located between the rugged Seaward Kaikoura Range and the Pacific Ocean. Kaikoura's specialty is encounters with marine mammals - whales, seals, and dolphins live in the coastal waters.

It's very warm here too, about 28 degrees, so swimming is a must.

Later, we take an evening walk to the viewpoint, where we see the seals basking in the sun. We walk along the rugged beach, find particularly beautiful seashells, and eat our evening sandwich overlooking the sea and the waves.