Kaikoura!

This is scotch broom mountain, on the way to Kaikoura.  Scotch broom has taken over the landscape in parts of New Zealand.  Terrible for allergies.

Ta-da!  

The water was a beautiful blue green color .

The coast just outside of Kaikoura.

The town of Kaikoura.  This was about it, a small beach community.

More Beach!  Too bad it is covered in rocks and not sand.  This is Kaikoura beach, the town is located right behind me.  We stopped by for a quick bite and to get some maps and then off to hike up those hills in the distance.

Start of the hike.  The trail was more of a gravel road but still quite steep. 

My typical face...  The fog was rolling in and we couldn't see anything but the trail but it made for a great surprise when it did clear up at the top.

Surprise!  Once it cleared up at the camp it was amazing as usual.  The top layer of clouds ended up burning off but the lower clouds stuck around so it felt like we were floating in the clouds.

The essentials! Thanks Tara for the stove and pots!

More of the amazing view.  This is looking down the river valley towards the west.

The camp.  Took us two hours to climb to this point where we were staying the night then another 400 - 500m climb to the summit.  You can see the sea of clouds just beyond the camp.  It was all clouds for a 360 degree view.

The sunset was amazing.  We had just finished cooking and  were on our way  to relax and watch .

More of the sunset and the sea of clouds.

The tent and the view.  I was the only one brave enough to stick it out outside in the cold.  The other three stayed in the hut with the wood stove.  There were two other groups staying up there as well, a couple from czechoslovakia, a couple guys from the UK , another from South Africa and a girl from Canada.

The last of the sunset. and then off to sleep and try not to freeze.

Woke up at 530am to watch the sunrise and we were glad we did.  The lower level of clouds had cleared in the night  which made for a beautiful view of the Kaikoura peninsula, the water and the sunrise.

More of the amazing pink and purple sky.  Then back to sleep before hiking the summit.

On the way up to the summit.

Kaikoura peninsula and the surrounding farmland.

Almost there!  1500m

Still a little bit of snow left over from the winter season.

Made it, 1600m (about 5200ft)!

Me at the top.  It was super windy up there but as you can see the view was pretty good.

Fooling around with the camera functions.

Living the life!  Had to lay down behind a berm to get out of the wind.

The view looking the opposite way.  A little bit of everything, snow capped mountains and blue -green oceans.

The crew and the hut back at camp.

The last view of the valley before getting back to the car.

A good way to end a great weekend is with a tall glass of Sheep Shagger's Lager!