A couple living in Kaikoura were arriving in the afternoon, having rented out the bach for 9 days. So Marty and I began a frantic cleaning job to tidy it up. It was pretty bad. The mice had clearly gotten into everything. So we vacuumed (or "hoovered" as they call it), scrubbed and tidied things up. It only took a couple hours. I then took a bunch of pictures of it to use for the website (we decided to scrap the second video idea).

This is the little place that Marty wants to promote and rent out more consistently.

Inside

The view

Marty jumped in the water for a swim, but it was a bit too cool for me (I didn't fall for the ol' "the water's fine" comment without first testing it!). About half an hour later, John and Bernie pulled up in their tiny boat, so Marty got them settled in. After lunch, I then took an afternoon walk. It was hot and sunny but with a lovely cool breeze. I went as far as the beach nearby another vacation resort, a couple bays over.

Interesting bark

The long dock used by the other resort.

An abandoned boat with wheels

Barnacles take over this old anchor.

Upon my return, we had some beer and chips and talked about what to do for the evening... one, go see the glow worms (but it's probably been too dry for them to be around)... two, take the boat out to a beach and have some wine while the sun sets (but we were too lazy, especially after the beer)... or three, just do nothing. We opted for choice three.

Marty did have to go down and help John moor his boat in the bay instead of up against the dock. Apparently being tied to a dock in bad weather can damage and even sink a boat.

Taking the tinny out

The little boat was now safely moored.

Since the evening light was so nice, I made Marty take a few pictures for the website. A couple of small fantails flitted about, landing in the trees next to us.

Marty wearing his one good non-work shirt

He insisted on turning the camera around on me.

These little guys were so incredibly quick! They would hardly sit still for a second!

We did a simple dinner of yogurt and fruit (having filled up too much on the chips) and had a nice relaxing evening. Marty played a bit of guitar and I sorted pictures. The small black sand flies were really biting! I had been warned about them but hadn't encountered them up until now.

This is not a spider... it is an eight-legged waste of space. It didn't catch a single sand fly!

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