As we were now behind schedule, we had to be up and out very early indeed: on the bus for 6am in fact! We drove straight across the Canterbury plains to Christchurch, we only had a couple of toilet stops so we arrived just after 9. Once at Christchurch airport we had to say very sad farewells to Ella and Roman before continuing up to Kaikoura. Matt, Nienke and I were now the final 3! We tried to make friends with the new people on our bus but it just wasn't the same! There were a new German guy and girl but they weren't Kevin or Laura, a new excitable lad but he wasn't Roman, a new English girl but she wasn't Ella, a crazy Italian girl but she wasn't our crazy French girl Flore and 2 new Irish people but they weren't Catriona & Cathal! 
 
The weather in Kaikoura was pretty much the same as last time we were here: rain!!!! Also just like before, we arrived feeling very tired so we got ourselves checked in and went for a little lay down . To our dismay, there was a definite smell of cannabis in our room which seemed to be getting stronger now we had turned the radiator on! We hunted around the room, even sniffing the bags of the other girl we were sharing with but couldn't seem to locate the source! Not wanting to accuse the other girl, we left the windows open and went to the kitchen, hoping the smell would be gone by the time we came back!
 
In the kitchen we got chatting to the Italian girl, the German couple who aren't actually a couple, an English girl and a German guy named Steffen. Somehow we ended up playing the silly games we had played in Tekapo; it was much funnier and far less frustrating when you know the answers and are in on the secrets! This killed a couple of hours but it still hadn't stopped raining so Matt and I, along with Steffen, decided to brave the elements and go for a walk into town. We had an ulterior motive for this as we had seen a road sign on our drive into town that said 'Yarmouth Street' so we wanted to get a photo! As we were walking along, we suddenly heard the strange but all too familiar sound of a seagull cawing and looked over to see Seagull and the captain of the fishing trip pulling up alongside us! They told us to jump in and drove us to find our road sign! They found it hilarious that we were out in the rain just for a picture of a road sign . After a quick photo, they dropped us back in town and we popped in a couple of souvenir shops and the supermarket before heading back to the hostel!
 
We weren't back for long before we gained another room mate. He made quite an entrance as he dashed in from the rain, introducing himself as Brendan from South Africa! It turned out he had hitch hiked from Christchurch and was trying to make his way to Blenheim! He asked if we knew of anywhere good to eat and when we said we were just about to head out for fish and chips, he said he would come along! We are still a little confused by what happened after this, as he took his shoes off and went outside telling us not to forget our money, we waited for a few moments expecting him to return but he didn't! Eventually, Matt, Nienke and I decided to go get our fish and chips and Brendan was stood outside, still bare foot, waiting for us?!?! It turns out he prefers to be bare foot, even though its freezing cold, and had only put shoes on because it's less painful carrying a backpack that way! We walked down to the fish and chip shop and he didn't stop talking the whole way! When we arrived, the 3 of us ordered but when Brendan went to order, he realised he didn't have any money?! So, off he went to find an ATM but never returned?!?! Very strange!
 
Our fish and chips were, once again, delicious! I really don't think we can get away with saying we don't like fish anymore! All 3 of us were absolutely exhausted after our early start and an emotional day so we all decided to get an early night and were in bed by 10pm!!! Unfortunately, the smell of weed was still there and, if anything, had actually gotten stronger but we figured it would just help us to sleep better and sure enough we were all sound asleep incredibly quickly!