Kaikoura was a really nice and relaxing town where we chilled out for a few days before making our way back up to the north island for the Ireland - Kiwi rugby match. We tried to go whale watching and dolphin swimming but the sea was too rough one of the mornings and the company could not find a pod of dolphins the following morning so we didnt get to experience those activities...maybe in oz...

We managed to occupy ourselves in the hostal by washing everything we had because we got bedbugs in Nelson and were destroyed with bites withing a few days. We didnt realise we had them until Kaikoura, neither of us could sleep for 3 nights because it was so itchy!!

I (Kev) woke up and could follow a line of bites from my toes to my back-it was completely disgusting! We told the hostal owners and they moved us into another room while the one we were in got cleaned out. They were very understanding. We spent a load of money washing everything including our bags, clothes, wallets, and poured boiling water over our boots...We had a bad few days so after we got ourselves cleaned up we relaxed in the hot tub and had a nice view of the southern alps during the sunset.

But it was definately not an experience we want to repeat!