And the rocks did rise out of the sea.

 There are times in the early morning that is just magical and this morning was one of them. Awake at some silly hour and staring at the ceiling I decided to get up and go for a walk. So glad I did because the sun was just appearing over the horizon giving the mountains a beautiful red glow.

The same photo was taken about 10 minutes apart.

We stayed in Kaikoura today as we booked on the Dolphin cruise at 12.30pm. So it was a lovely lazy morning looking around the shops, chilling out and chatting to the locals.  By the allotted time we were ready to board the bus to take us to the harbour. Amongst the 33 persons on board the bus, 28 of them were swimming with the Dolphins. Both of us would have loved to swim with them but a level of snorkelling experience was necessary and the last time I snorkelled for any length of time was back in the '70s. Had a brief go when we went to the Red Sea 2 years ago but that would not have counted as experience. Anyway, with only 5 spectators the boat was ours to move around unhindered and I got some great action photos. The swell today in the open ocean was classed as moderate....'sea sickness will occur to those prone to motion sickness'. Good job both Ian and I are immune and the rougher the sea the better we like it. Pity a few of our fellow passengers that did not and spent a lot of time with heads over the bucket.

Two different photos at two different times yet the dolphin on the right looks the same.

Look where we are parked tonight. Love the sound of the waves crashing over the rocks. We couldn't get much closer if we tried!

 Had another snippet of information today, from the captain of the boat. He had the terrifying experience of being in bed when the earthquake hit. Luckily for him and the people of Kaikoura, the quake happened at night and there were hardly any fatalities. Two rugby pitches of granite from the mountain along the northern part of Kaikoura fell across the road and railway line and if the quake had hit in the day the fatalities would have been enormous.  When the first shock hit, the sheer ferocity of the shaking catapulted him and his wife out of their bed and they had to crawl to the children's bedroom to get them out. Thankfully his house withstood the shaking of both quakes (the second aftershock came immediately after and blended in with the first. He also told us that the green seaweed we could now see covering the rocks was once underwater. When the seabed rose by 6 meters during the earthquake it brought the rocks up with it.  During our stay here in Kaikoura, we had many of the townsfolk talk about the quake and how some had lost everything. Quite a few of the shops were still boarded up and before they can be rebuilt or made safe the insurance has to be dealt with. As they said, it all takes time. One lady is still living in her house with a 6" crack going right across the foundations from one end to another. The roof looks sound for now but the walls are starting to bend. Again it is all down to the insurance brokers whether, and when, she can put the place to rights. In the meantime, she hopes that the place won't fall down around her!

These rocks once lay on the seabed.