East and North on South Island

Kaikoura
Once a sleepy little whaling outpost Kaikoura is now big on these giants of the ocean for very different reasons. Today, rather than slaughtering the magnificent mammals for their blubber, Kk is the No.1 centre on the South Island for whale-watching.
It's a quite lovely place nestled between the Pacific Ocean on one side and the snow-capped Kaikoura Seaward range on the other - the tallest mountains on the east coast of NZ.
Despite their beauty - the mountains come down to meet the sea here with just a narrow two-lane highway to divide them - visitors flock here instead to try to catch a glimpse of the area's extraordinary marine and birdlife.
Not only is this coastal area rich with sperm whales - blues, humpbacks and orcas are also frequently seen - you can also swim with fur seals and rare Hector dolphins in their own natural habitat. On the birdlife front, the albatross (minus The Ancient Mariner) grabs all the attention.
We've rolled into town to try to catch a glimpse of a whale or two - and the next morning looks promising. The sun is shining and the sea appears calm near shore. But looks are deceptive. A quick visit to the whale-watching centre's booking office confirms that conditions out at sea are pretty rough - three-metre swells are the order of the day and the advice is not to sail if you suffer from sea-sickness.
This is where we split up for the day. Chris decides she'll do her whale-watching from a helicopter, while John is more than happy to take his chance out on the briny. Both trips provide dividends. Chris reports her ''bird's eye view'' heli trip - four on board, including the pilot - well worth doing. She sights couple of sperm whales from the air, seeing the whole body, where even blow-hole is visible.
John gets the chance to see four sperm whales on a heaving ocean (and there are quite a lot of people heaving too - into paper bags). While he couldn't see what Chris did - the whole body of the mighty mammal - he is out on the deck of the catamaran with the whales just a couple of metres away - great gusts of water spurting skywards out of their blow-holes as they come up for air before diving for the depths again.
Two very different - but equally rewarding - trips end a memorable day. Back at campground, John spots girl who took sea trip and had mouth to bag for much of the 180-minutes (God bless). She is looking a whiter shade of pale.

North to Abel Tasman
Leave Kaikoura to head north-west to NZ's smallest national park. Gorgeous stretch of road, reminiscent of California's Highway 1 at Big Sur south of Monterey. On way we stop at a cafe/restaurant called The Store At Kekerengu - and it reminds us so much of one our favourite spots on the Sur - a mystical one-off restaurant/shop called Nepenthe, once the home of movie greats Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
The Store has a similarly glorious setting - a huge deck overlooking nothing but the blue vastness of The Pacific - and the same laidback feel as its Californian 'cousin'. Chris orders us both some French toast and a couple of coffees and server Stacey picks up on our Welsh accents immediately. She is herself from Gwent, got married at The Oxwich Bay Hotel on Gower last March and is working her way around the world with her husband. She has landed up at The Store and loves it there. We can see why Stacey.

Abel Tasman
The Abel Tasman National Park is a coastal paradise - 23,000 hectares of forested hills interspersed with stretches of golden sand beaches and crystal clear lagoons. It is only accessible by walking, boat or kayak - and many hikers are dropped off in this pristine wilderness by water taxi, so they can do the 51km of track by foot. It can take between 3-4 days and there are stops along the way in Department of Conservation huts along the way.
Basic instinct tells us we are not really up to this, so we chicken out and 'hole up' instead in a little town outside the park called Motueka. We've decided to make this our base for 4 nights from which we'll take a trip into the park via boat and take a half-day walk along stretch of the coast.
Pathetic really, but it still proves a wise move because we stumble across the sublime little seaside village of Kaiteriteri which has two wonderful beaches of its own, plus a third on its outskirts - Breaker Bay Beach - which we fall in love with instantly.
So lovely is it in fact that we put our Abel Tasman (AT was a Dutch explorer who discovered the area) adventure on hold for a day to chill out at Breaker Bay - lapping up the sunshine and generally lazing around on the beach, swimming and reading (John catching up with Stieg Larsson's The Millennium Trilogy and Chris getting her teeth into The Lovely Bones).
Suitably relaxed, we're up for our Tasman adventure next day. We're collected at campsite by minibus which takes us to Kaiteriteri where we board sea-shuttle. Hour-and-a-half journey across a placid Tasman Sea (didn't know there was such a thing) rewards us with fabulous views of deserted beaches among dense forest and bush - some long stretches of sand, others tiny coves. Along the way are close up encounters with seals, and a couple of shy blue penguins who disappear quickly under the water as we approach.
Skipper Andy drops us at lonely, but lovely, Bark Bay (no coffee here, in fact nothing at all) and says he will pick us up in three hours time at Torrent Bay. ''You will have to wade out to the boat. It's too shallow to come close in to pick you up.'' Thanks Andy!
Pick up the trail from Bark to Torrent, but Andy has neglected to mention one thing - the pencil-thin and rather long suspension bridge that crosses a ravine some 100-ft below. One hour into our journey and with another hour to go (and Andy picking us up at a different location to the one he dropped us at) there is no going back. Talk about the point of no return. We are at it, for sure. Eyes front then, deep breaths and no looking down. Made it. No sweat!
Dodgy bridge aside, it's a tough trek and steep in places, but eventually make it to Torrent Bay with something to spare. Exhausted, we catch 40 winks on the beach before our big 'wade out' to meet up with Andy and boat again.
Exhilarating trip, but we are tired. Can't be asked to cook in campervan tonight, so decide on grabbing takeaway. Find one in Motueka that advertises roast dinners and vegees. (It's wot New Zealanders call vegetables). The lamb shanks, roasties and vegees are delicious and go down a treat with a nice bottle of red.
One more day left in area. It's another lazy one. Sun shining again after overnight rain. Back to our favourite spot - Breaker Bay Beach. And to cap it - another roast dinner (this time beef, plus vegees of course). We'll have to get back to our camping way of life after spoiling ourselves again. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.