Counting Sheep, Fulfilling Dreams

This morning we departed Rangitata and drove into a sunrise that turned the clouds pink and the mountains purple. It was a beautiful ride all the way into Kaikoura.

Being such a gorgeous day, immediately upon arrival we threw our bags in our room in headed out to check out the small town. We relaxed on the pebble beach while Laura tried her very first kiwi!

We then took a walk and bumped into our friend Stefan from Germany that we met on the bus. He said he’d tag along with us as we figured out what we wanted to do…
We heard there was a seal colony nearby so we all headed to the information centre to find out where to go. The lady pointed us in the right direction and told us it was about an hour walk. We started the long beach-side trek and enjoyed the scenery and nice weather.

Now before we tell you about the greatest moment of the day, let’s backtrack and tell you that we have been wanting to pet sheep for, oh I don’t know, our whole lives. Ok, now back to the story…

We came across a sign in front of a little farm that read: “The Point sheep shearing show at 4:00.” Claire instinctively pulled out her phone to check the time. No joke when we tell you it was exactly, on the dot, four o’ clock.

Can you say meant to be?

We RAN up to the fence and saw the sheep. After about five minutes of freaking out, taking hundreds of photos, trying different “sheep calls,” and Stefan making fun of us, the farmer walked up to us and asked if we were ready for the show. We were more than ready…

Rewind… In Queenstown, we almost paid $200 to watch a sheep shearing show. This amazing guy only charged us $20 total for the three of us (like $7 each). Best. Deal. Ever.

We had such a blast and Stefan secretly fell in love with the incredible sheep! I don’t think we ever stopped smiling… It was the best moment ever.

Time was flying by and before we knew it we were turning into sheep ourselves…

We then headed onward to find our seal colony! It wasn’t but 2 minutes into our walk when all of the sudden on the side of the road we spotted… A SEAL… Just chillin’ five feet from the edge of the street. No big deal.

We freaked out. Just when we thought the day couldn’t get any better…

We walked back to the town after seeing the seal just as the sunset over the mountains. It was the most beautiful sunset we have seen so far.

Tomorrow we are heading to Wellington. We’re excited to take the ferry across to the north island!