This morning we awoke to rain but it cleared up as we left so we had a lovely drive down from the mountains to the coast. The countryside on the eastern side of the South Island is less rain foresty and more like moorland. We passed a deer farm and we've never seen such large herds before. We stopped for lunch in a charming typical New Zealand town,a handful of old clapperboard buildings and newer bungalows. It had some local buildings moved to the town centre as a museum and a war memorial up on a hill with great views of the area. Our destination tonight was Kaikoura,a seaside town that apart from a beautiful location is also the spot for whale watching trips. We hope for decent weather tomorrow.