Kaikoura

I had never been to Kaikoura before, and Bruce has not been here since the 1970’s, so essentially it was new to both of us. The last time we were in the South Island the area was cut off after the 2016 earthquake, so we were really looking forward to this leg of the trip, and we were not disappointed.

The landscape is  stunning, with the area being surrounded by the seaward Kaikoura Ranges, which, in the midst of winter, are covered with snow.

The hills are mainly limestone or alluvial type gravel which is prone to erosion. Kaikoura is situated at the junction of two faultlines, so it is being pushed continually upwards, but the erosion factor means that the mountains stay a similar height.

Below the mountains is an area of flat land before the the sea. This flat land increased following the quake and is evidenced by the white limestone areas at the sea’s edge.

The other unique thing about Kaikoura is the Kaikoura Canyon – an very deep underwater trench that is about 1600m deep and only 5km from shore. This is why sperm whales, in particular, are able to be seen in the area. Bruce and I could not pass up the opportunity to go on a whale watching boat trip. We were lucky enough to see two sperm whales, and also some Dusky dolphins.

Each sperm whale was approximately 45 meters long. They rise to the surface and float there for around 10 minutes, taking deep breaths and building up their oxygen levels, before diving to between 1000 and 2000m deep searching for giant squid, hapuku, kingfish etc to eat. They stay under water for about an hour at a time.

On the way back to land we came across a couple of pods of Dusky dolphins. They were quite playful, and are smaller than the dolphins we see in Flaxmill Bay.

Our friends Marilyn and Dennis were to be travelling on tomorrow so we had a treat night out on the town, enjoying a lovely meal of Blue Cod. We decided to stay on for a couple of more days and the next day headed out to do some exploring around the area. We had a look at the wharf:

and then up to the lookout:

And then along to a walkway at the other end of town:

We would have loved to have done the whole penninsula walkway but time and logistics of getting back to our vehicle at the other end meant it will have to wait until next time.

The next morning, on our final day in Kaikoura, we had two short expeditions. The first was to the Lavender Farm, just on the outskirts of town, and the second to the museum. I don’t know what we expected but we found the Lavender Farm somewhat underwhelming. The cafe that was supposed to be on site was almost non-existent, but the owner was trying to be innovative with what she did with the lavender. When we were there she was talking about infusing gin with lavender.

On the other hand, the museum was well worth a visit. There was a lot of information about the history of the area, the wild life to be found in the area, and a whole big section on the earthquake and its effects. Resilience certainly describes the people who lived through those trying times.

I would go back to Kaikoura in a heart beat. The NZMCA Park was wonderful, the scenery spectacular and the people are friendly and welcoming.