Up really early to catch the Bus to Nelson. We were worried as to whether there would be an Uber taxi, so factored in walking to the bus station. Should never have worried, the taxi was with us in a minute. A long wait at the bus station, and predictably the bus was 20 minutes late. A replacement bus had to be found as the original Intercity apparently would not start.

The bus took us along the East coast which had only recently been opened for traffic. There were several long single-track sections in places where the road was having to be rebuilt after the 2016 earthquake. In sections there were long rows of shipping containers protecting the traffic from further slips.

We stopped at Kaikoura for 30 minutes. This is the location for whaling and dolphin trips. We should have visited this location on our trip.

We continued on the Blenhein to transfer to the Nelson bus. Again this bus was late. The bus stop is on the rail line where there is a station. This Station was called the wine tasting station where I had a few sample wines before buying my favourites.

Arrived at Nelson where Katy picked us up and took us to Peter and Nic’s house. Peter & Nic were soon back after attending a funeral in Golden Bay. We renewed our acquaintanceships with all the family pets, but this time there were an additional three orphan kittens for Rosemary to coo over. Obviously, they were a perk of Nic’s job with the SPCA, and had to be syringe fed special pet milk at intervals. Once on solids, they will be found homes. R decided she could not stuff them all in her suitcase.

An excellent supper of Pete’s vegetarian lasagne & salad.

During the evening and night, it poured with rain.