We were blown away with the beauty we saw today.

We started down in Lyttelton harbour, sitting in a coffee shop with views down to the working docks. We saw a container ship, an ice breaker, a trawler,  a dredger and other smaller ships. Lots of activity loading containers and logs, and the dredging of thick mud up from the dock.

We set off to Governors Bay and saw a wildlife reserve. There were loads of small herons and oyster catchers.

We followed the road up and down round the mountain which is a huge volcano and stopped at Okains Bay. Here is the Maori and Colonial Museum. It is in a pleasant valley surrounded by grassy steep hillsides. The museum was really interesting and we spent a long time there. It was so hot 28c.

The road follows the circumference of the volcano about 120 miles as you twist up and down in and out of valleys….it has breathtaking views. We stopped in the lovely tourist spot by the sea at Akoara for a relaxing break, drinking tea in the shade looking out to sea.

The whole day was amazing, really loving NZ and the outstanding scenery xx