kaikoura

Five days in the South Island. Best place - Kaikoura - a small seaside town surrounded by snowy mountains. We went there to see whales and were lucky enough to see sperm whales and humpbacks as well as Hector's dolphins and albatross. I really wanted to see whales in their natural habitat and whenever we're walking along clifftops near the sea I'm always looking out for whales but I've never seen any. But even though the whales were great the fur seals were my favourite. They were everywhere along the coastline swimming and lazing in the sun on the rocks and you can get quite close to them. So cute.

Reading: The buddha of suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. This was written in 1990 and made into a four-part TV serial. Have you seen it? I'd love to.

through windows

Here are some iphone photos taken on last week's South Island holiday. The first two are a couple of shots taken from the car while driving from Haast to Greymouth. I like the out of focus blurriness of them. Most of that part of the trip was like that as we drove through mist and rain. But it wasn't all bad weather. I put some sunnier landscapes on instagram.

The last two photos (also taken through windows) are of Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer Springs that closed in 2003.

West coast

No time for favourites. No time for anything. I've been away - to the rugged West coast of the South Island. It's a wild and beautiful place.

The Pancake rocks at Punakaiki.

Beach looking North from Punakaiki.

Somewhere between Punakaiki and Westport. Didn't see any penguins :(

Buller River

General store, Blackball