Round the top then back to base

From Greymouth we head for  Nelson, penultimate stop on our South Island tour. Despite some more iffy weather we decide to take the long way round - via the coastal highway to Westport. We're assured by our hosts at the motel that this is a must-travel road, especially on a bike, and it doesn't disappoint - a long, snaking ride along the wild (sometimes wet) west coast, passing some amazing rock formations - the "pancake" rocks and blowholes at Punakai - along the way. We don't remember much being made of this stretch of road in the guidebooks, but on this evidence it could give Australia's Great Ocean road a very good run for its money (and throws in seals basking on the rocks along the shore by the waters edge for good measure)

From Westport we dive inland to rejoin the main route to Nelson and then down the East Coast to Kaikoura, last port of call before returning to Christchurch. As we make our way the scenery changes again - greener, more pastoral; the north of England or Scotland, perhaps. The East Coast ride itself is pretty good - not as dramatic as the west, maybe, but with highway (and railway) running almost parallel to the pacific it's a great ride by any objective standards.

Nelson is an OK kind of place - busier and more habited than we found Christchurch, with a pleasant riverside path that runs all the way out of the town into the countryside beyond. We hire bikes to explore; one of us (the one-time Michelin man, natch) falls off. Twice. Later that afternoon, having a cuppa on the terrace of a harbour side cafe, we see whales swimming in the waters at the harbour mouth.

More whale watching opportunities present in Kaikoura, where you can take a boat tour to the outer reaches of huge harbour. Seasickness pills at the ready,  book our seats aboard. It's a fitting way to round off our South Island trip with sightings of three large sperm whales (not to mention the group
of Orcas we saw swimming the waters just off-shore while we were waiting to check in), and on our return, a school of curious dolphins that circled the boat, many doing spectacular back-flip somersaults out the water just for fun.

A few hours later and we're back where we begun, handing Grace back to her owners and taking a ride back into Christchurch for our last night on New Zealand's South Island.