Everyone told me that the only way to travel in New Zealand is with a Camper. I disagree. The perfect way to see New Zealand is renting places like the Straw Bale House in Kaikōura.
Wr spent 3 days in Kaikōura and were very pleased with the house and its surroundings.
It was clean, quiet, had a lot of space around the house to run a round, some toys for the kids (they played with the little rubber animals for hours!). It is a bit outside the town but still close enough to quickly to town for shopping, an ice cream or dinner.
The best thing was the little path to the beach. We spent the days away from the house doing some walks but when we came back home late afternoon we spend a relaxed hour or two at the beach, building things with the driftwood, searching for special stones…