We left the wine country in the sunshine and travelled back south along the coastline, and this time, instead of a dull grey ocean, it was a beautiful blue. It was a most enjoyable drive. We noticed a railway track hugs the coast too and goes in and out of tunnels, but we only saw an actual train once on our journey. We made a comfort stop at Kaikoura which turned out to be a bustling little holiday village with people everywhere soaking up the sunshine.
We turned off the coast road at Amberly to go inland on Scenic Route 72 heading away from the sunshine and into cloudy skies once more. This is a very scenic route but not so much if it is raining! We ended up taking a wrong turn after getting fuel and onto some back roads (unsealed) which was interesting :) Rakaia Gorge was the main point of interest on this particular stretch of road and we stopped at the lookout for a bit and even in rain it was amazing but getting photographs was a challenge. Also, hiking was a less than palatable idea in the rain.
Our stop for the night was in Mt Somers and we stayed in a very nice little studio on a property that had resident ducks and goats. I enjoyed watching the four ducks waddle past the window on their way to the pond! They were very chatty and quite the characters. The goats were very watchful and interested in our comings and goings.
Our kind host had lit the fire for us before our arrival and so the space was beautifully warm. Sitting in front of the fire with some wine and cheese was very pleasant after our long drive. This was a lovely, cozy and comfortable stopover.
When dawn came, the sun rose beyond the hills and bathed everything in a beautiful rosy pink and the clouds over the hills were amazing. We decided to double back and see the gorge in sunlight and take a small hike before heading to our next destination of Twizel which would be our jumping off spot for a hike to see Mt Cook.
