One Last Sunset

The vacation was winding down. Our first step was to pack up and leave Abel Tasman. The trip out was a lot easier than the trip in. At 11 a.m., as scheduled, the water taxi arrived and the lodge porter trekked our bags down to the beach and up onto the boat. The weather was cold and rainy, to match our moods – so we bundled up in rain jackets and boarded the indoor section of the boat. The ride back to our car was a little over an hour. By the end, the sun was shining through a bit, so we went out on the deck to take in the wind, ocean and sun one last time.

Today we had about five hours of driving to reach the city of Kaikoura. We got back to our car and left Kaiteriteri to go find lunch. This afternoon, we had time to go to Jellyfish, a restaurant in a small beach town along the way that I had wanted to try. We sat at a table outside on the docks overlooking where a river met the sea and watched the locals enjoying a partly sunny Sunday on the water. Dave had a spicy Thai salad and I had a lamb burger and a three-berry cider.

From there we had a lot of driving ahead of us, and unfortunately not as much time as we would have liked to explore. We just kept telling each other that it left more to see next time. We drove back along the Northern edge of the island and back down through the Marlborough Sounds and wine country. Once we hit the east coast we started the almost three-hour drive south along the shoreline.

As we got closer to Kaikoura, the eastern Seward Kaikoura Mountain Range came into view and provided some great scenery. We had missed the mountains over the past few days on the beach.

Spinning in the black powdery sand along the side of the road.

The mountains were coming back into view along the East Coast.

I scouted the rocks on the coastline as Dave drove. Suddenly, I spotted a seal or two, or three or four….Dave stopped the car so we could check them out. Once your eyes grew accustomed to the seals, you suddenly noticed that there were dozens and dozens of them sprawled all over the rocks. Even better, dozens of baby seal pups playing in the surf. I sat and watched them while Dave climbed down to their level and worked his magic with his camera.

Watching the seals from above.

We reached the Nikau Lodge in Kaikoura at about 7:30 p.m. as planned. It was a lovely, large, old home that the couple had covered into a B&B. It sat up high over the small town with gorgeous views of the beaches and mountains. We chatted with the owners and played fetch in the yard with Jack, the precocious little dog.

The Whale Room at the B&B.

The view from the B&B.

Kitchen and living room area.

It was our last night in New Zealand. Our dinner reservations were at the Green Dolphin for 8:30 p.m. It was highly recommended as the best restaurant in town, with great views over the mountains from the Kaikoura peninsula. It was a small place with lots of windows. We had a table with a front row view of the deep fiery rose sunset that blanketed the mountains. 

We had a perfect evening together. Wine, delicious food and reminiscing of our amazing vacation. We shared locally famous green-lipped mussels and breads with dips as a starter. Dave had the fresh fish on roasted new potatoes and steamed veggies. I had the buttery (also locally famous) crayfish. We talked ourselves out of dessert, but had coffee to wrap up the evening.

As the sun set the mountains ablaze with color we said our goodbyes to our journey. Sometimes after a long vacation, you are ready for home. But sometimes you want to keep going. Dave and I were just hitting our stride. There were so many places in this beautiful country to explore and neither of us felt finished yet. We fell asleep later that night with the windows open and the distant sounds of the ocean washing away our anticipation of the next day’s long trip home. I fought the end of the day because I didn't want the next day to steal everything away. But soon I was asleep. No matter how hard you try, time doesn't stand still and vacations never seem to last forever. 

Our last New Zealand sunset.