27 August 2026, Thursday
Disaster averted yesterday, thanks to my heroes of the day, Rachel and Eva. Here I was taking in the view of Kaikoura and coast from the hilltop viewpoint when my phone rang. My dental surgery in Wellington. What the heck? Have I missed an appointment? Surely not, my last was just a couple of weeks ago. So, a tentative hello, and I’m asked if I’m in Kaikoura. ‘Well, yes, but . . . ?’ – I’m puzzled, how does she know this? ‘You’ve left your wallet at the Bus Stop Café. ‘I’ve what?’ – thinking, what is going on here.
The answer was simple, no clairvoyance involved. I’d left my wallet behind at the Bus Stop Café when I’d bought a takeaway coffee. Rachel and Eva found a dentist appointment card in my wallet, called the surgery, relayed the story, and the receptionist called me. Big thank you to all three of you for preventing my day from turning to custard further down the road when eventually I would have discovered the wallet was missing.
So: When you’re next in Kaikoura, make sure you check out the Bus Stop Café. The café is tucked beside the district council building and serves coffee and bagels. I didn’t try the bagels, but the coffee was great, the perfect coffee for my blue ceramic travel cup. Even without the efforts to reunite me with my wallet, I’d be recommending them. Will definitely be stopping there on our way back home from this mini road trip — which, incidentally, is our first trip for ages. I say mini because the road trip has covered a couple of days only, first over the Remutaka Hill to Wellington on Tuesday and on to the ferry for an overnight stay in Picton. Then yesterday on down the coast via Kaikoura to Christchurch where we are staying with family for a bit.
As always, that drive from Blenheim through to Kaikoura had me taking more photos than I need to. Can’t help it. Doesn’t matter that I’ve already got dozens of similar photos. I love taking my road shots, especially through the Marlborough hills and along the coast. If I could paint, I’d be painting the hill-scapes and seascapes over and over – love the blocks of greys, blues, browns, and greens. And yesterday was the perfect day for travel. High overcast, interesting cloud formations, not too hot and not too cold.
We arrived not long before the rain set in for the latest round of cold wet weather which is forecast to hang around for a couple of days. Winter is hanging on despite the signs of spring around.
Off Highway One 