12.4km back...

This morning I was the last one to get up at 8am, but I made my way to the table to grab some breakfast. After this we all gathered up our gear and headed back to shore to all go our separate ways. Now mind you I still had to walk back to my car…..so this time rather than put on sneakers cause of my feet I walked the 12.4km/7.7mi back to my car in flip flops lol.

I stopped at a beach on the way back called Porter’s beach and I was all alone. It was so incredibly beautiful. Nice soft sand, some big trees that have become driftwood and tons of shells everywhere. I decided to park my ass here for a bit an enjoy the nice warm sun beating down on me and the sound of the small waves as they lapped upon the shore. I stayed here for about an hour, and for those of you who don’t know me well, I HATE getting sand on me. Yes I know I know, I am on a beach hahaha! BUT I just don’t like to get sand where the sun doesn’t shine and also just all over me, drives me nuts. Yet, today I sat myself right on the sand in the water! What came over me I have no damn idea! It felt so good, probably from the 7 miles I had just walked in flip flops lol. As I sat there enjoying the weather, view and water I noticed a cave to my right. There wasn’t any water in it since the tide was going out. So I got up to check it out. I really have got to get some nerves! It was fairly dark in there and you could see more indentations where it probably went out farther, but could I go in. NOPE! I wanted to but I was too chicken shit! Lol This is another time it would have been nice to have someone there with me lol. After my failed attempt at exploring I decided to call my brother to see if we could video with my nephew. Hahaha oops….apparently they were having a snow storm back home and seeing the beach where I was wasn’t cool. (No pun intended there) I felt bad but oh well, just one of the many reasons that I am traveling during my winter time. We weren’t able to talk due to poor connection but we texted back and few for a bit. I miss my family even though I can talk to them as often as I would like so it will be nice to see them and catch up when I get home. I especially miss my kitty! Mom says she is doing good and is sure she will be so happy to see me in a few weeks.

After I got back to my car, of course stopping about 6 more times to take pictures of things, I decided that I was going to head over to Kaikoura like Anna had suggested. It was about a 4-hour drive but it was pretty. Some of the road winded around the coast and some of it went inland to hang out with the sheep and cows. About 20 min out from the center of Kaikoura I noticed a sign for a seal colony. You can guess what thought came into my head. PICTURES! Hahaha! There were TONS of seals at this colony that was on the side of the road. And to make things even better……there were a whole bunch of tiny pup seals that were laying on the rocks or paying in the small pools of water. I snapped some great shots and got back on the road. It was supposed to rain and I wanted to get my tent set up in the campground I was staying at before it did. After I accomplished all of that I headed over to a restaurant and got their deal for dinner, a steak with mashed potatoes and a veggie. It was so mouthwateringly good! I probably could have had 2 plates of it, that is how good it was. I washed it down with a beer and headed back to call it a night.

Tomorrow is full of surprises as I have no idea what I am doing :)