Kaikoura Loop

Catch-up (July 28th, 2017)

While in Hanmer Springs we decided to do a day trip through to Kaikoura. Originally we were going to take the 5th-wheeler through and stay a few days after we left Christchurch but decided against it after checking the long range weather forecast- wet and miserable! 

Stop/Go on the Hundalees

Also both SH1, the coast road south (more slips), and the Inland Kaikoura Road (snow & flooding) had been closed several times during the two weeks before we left. And while we'd heard reports that the road was not too bad to tow over, we decided after driving it that it was a good decision not to take the van through there, as much as we wanted to support the local community for a few days.

Parititahi Tunnels

The decision to which way round we were going to drive to Kaikoura was made for us by the time we got to Waiau; the Inland Road was closed due to snow so we headed over Leader Road to the coast and exited onto the main highway just north of Parnassus.

Buckled road on the Hundalees

It had been raining on and off most of the way but it bucketed down over the Hundalees- a winding climb through the hills, with many road works and an undulating road surface, due to sections of it slumping away into a empty void or buckling, under the forces of the earthquake (above). I wonder who that wings (NZMCA) member is below?

The majority of the earthquake damage and consequently, the road and rail repairs south of Kaikoura are right on the coastline- there were over 25 large slips on the coast road between Oaro and Peketa. There's activity happening from all directions and angles with many Stop/Go sections.

We timed it just right, the weather cleared as we made our way through the busiest section of the coast road repairs. Excuse the quality of the photos; they were all taken through a dirty windscreen- I'd have loved to have stopped and got out to take photos- so many interesting shots!

We did pull into one of the rest areas near Goose Bay to check out the rocky coastline. It's very hard to get an idea of how much the seabed has been pushed up here due to the tide being on it's way out, but the bleached rocks and seaweed indicate where the new low tide zone is- this would have always been under water before (click photo to enlarge). The seabed rose up to two meters along the coast during the violent 7.8 earthquake.

A new species of Kaikoura crayfish? Or 'Orange is the new black'? High-vis orange was everywhere.

Many of the rock slides still had a fair bit of repairs to be done to stabilize them...

Steel poles, wire fences and rock cages didn't stand a chance against the forces of nature. 

Traffic lights controlled this section around a rocky point. I was wondering whether the portaloo was for passing people caught short or the construction crew....either way, imagine stepping out of there while everyone's lined up waiting for the lights to change- "Morning" he'd say as he stepped out re-arranging his hi-vis gear.

I wonder where this container came from (maybe caught in the earthquake while it was on a truck or train perhaps?) and it looks like that first blue container in the row of containers protecting the traffic from rock fall around the point did it's job.

It's not everyday you can drive the wrong way through a road tunnel on State Highway One.

These guys certainly earn their pay; hanging off rock walls and swinging about on the end of cranes high above the road. All in freezing temperatures with a negative wind chill factor blowing through too.

Our last Stop/Go, this one with her very own kiosk, tied down for good measure. The Stop/Go Operators were all very friendly, waving and smiling to every vehicle and having a chat if you were the first car in line. What a cold job though.

We drove through the township and around to the Esplanade to have lunch; the weather was closing in fast and it was very cold, not pleasant at all.

I'm sure there are now many more rocks sticking out of the water in the bay, although it's still hard to tell which ones are new because the tide was on it's way out.

After a quick lunch we drove out to Point Kean where you can definitely see the change even with the tide out; dried green seaweed stuck to parched rocks- the new exposed low tide zone would have once been always under water. 

High tide used to come just about to the edge of the carpark, where the brown seaweed line is above; the seals (spot the seal?) resting on the rocks between there and the tarseal. There are nowhere near the numbers of seals here today, they obviously have a lot more rocks to navigate to get to this area now.

The huge papa rock platform at Point Kean was always exposed at low tide but now the tide looks to be miles away from where it used to stop. The photo set below was from one of my previous blogs- you can see the raised papa rock above, lower right is the same one in the first photo below. And the bottom left photo below was taken at the same spot as the single photo above with the seal in it. 

We headed back through town, the weather had cleared off the mountains across the bay...

...but by the time we got around to South Bay- as you can see by the spots on my camera lens- the rain was torrential again. I took a quick photo of the construction work at Kaikoura Harbour- the seabed lifted so much here that the Whale Watch and other tourist boats have only been able to exit and enter at the top of the tide.

And further round at the Kaikoura Boating Club ramps the change is even more noticeable.

With the wet weather looking like it was in for the duration we headed off home, this time taking the Inland Kaikoura Road which was now open.

With quite a distance to travel we only stopped a couple of times; here on the edge of a steep cliff with no barrier (don't do that with kids in tow) overlooking the Conway River.

Much of this road has now been repaired following the 'quake, with just a few short sections with road work or speed restriction signs. 

We passed the grit spreading and grader truck exiting the area near Mt Lyford just as we drove into another snow covered landscape.     

We've yet to visit Mt Lyford (let alone see it- it's always cloudy when we drive past), we seem to always be driving past the end of the road after a long day exploring when all you want to do is get home; to eat, to warm up or to just have a lie down.

There was one last stop to take a photo of this very muddy waterway making it's way through the bare willows.

Total distance travelled- 275km
Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura via SH1 coast road - 145km
Kaikoura to Hanmer Springs via the Inland Kaikoura Road- 130km
And you'll notice on the map that the road is not marked between Oaro and Kaikoura- Google maps won't allow it as the road is currently closed for critical repair work, it should reopen again for weekend periods from September 14th onwards. Check the NZTA Road Status maps for updates.

Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway

With an entry point to the Kaikoura Walkway just a few steps away from where we were parked it was too good an opportunity to miss. The complete walkway is a 12km long loop that takes in the town, the coast road to Point Kean, the peninsula’s cliff tops, South Bay and Toms Track across farmland back to town. I decided to just walk the 4.5km sea cliff section from South Bay to Point Kean, where I’d call up David to come and collect me.

I set off up the the very steep stairway behind us and after crossing a couple of paddocks came to a junction in the track with no signposts, one headed over the hill in the direction of town so I took the other track and carried merrily on my way heading towards the cliffs. After a short while the path headed down hill through a pine plantation and next minute (nek minit) I popped out into an alleyway beside the backyards of some houses. Houses in South Bay! South Bay just a short FLAT 20 minute walk along the beach from where we were parked.

Low tide at South Bay with the snow capped Seaward Kaikoura Range behind.

By the time I wound my way through the back roads of South Bay and crossed the reserve to the grand entrance to the walkway I had wasted an hour! (I suppose not wasted as such, it was good exercise). I then realised I had forgotten by binoculars so I was able to call David up and he delivered them to me just down the road. Everything happens for a reason. That’s what I told myself anyway.

The South Bay Powhenua, at the entrance to the walk, tells the story of Maui going fishing in his canoe and pulling up the house of Tangaroa (God of the sea)

It was a very impressive walkway entrance, in fact the best I’ve seen on our travels. The building is shaped like a waka (Maori war canoe) & has a number of large interpretation panels inside explaining the wide range of geology in the area. The second Powhenua is of Maui fishing up the North Island.

The shelter also had a large panoramic section cut-out in the wall providing the perfect frame for the limestone tidal platform out front.

A wide fenced boardwalk led around the edge of the bay to a steady steep climb on a cobbled pathway to the top of the first cliff & to a lookout platform, again shaped like a waka, overlooking Limestone, South & Goose Bays, and the mountains beyond.

At various points along the way there were interpretation panels telling the stories of the land, the sea, the animals & of the people who lived on the peninsula. There was a very cold and bitter southerly blowing and I was very thankful for my scarf, hat, gloves & warm jacket and although there were very few people on the track the few I did pass were not dressed for the weather, no jackets, short sleeves and unsuitable shoes.

Limestone Bay

Behind a predator proof fence located on the sea cliff near Whalers Bay are the nesting burrows of a new colony of endangered Hutton’s Shearwaters. Kaikoura is the only place on earth that the Hutton’s Shearwaters breed. The usual breeding colonies are up in the mountains behind Kaikoura but these sites are under pressure from various environmental issues so this new site was set up as a safe guard.

Chicks are brought down from the mountain colonies a few weeks before they fledge and are fed & housed in artificial burrows behind the fence for up to four weeks. This ensures that this new site will imprint (on their bird brain) and that they will then return here to breed. In 2009 the first of the chicks returned to breed, five years after leaving. It will take some time to fill the area fenced off but eventually the fence will protect a breeding population of 10,000 birds.

I liked the little fenced booth to sit in and catch your breath......and to protect you from marauding sheep perhaps......? :)

The peninsula has many small bays and tidal platforms that would make for some interesting exploring in the summer.

Whalers Bay & “The Sugarloaf”- a wooden stairway follows the same route down the cliff to the shoreline that former whalers used many years ago when Kaikoura was a very busy whaling station.

Whalers Bay nowadays supports a very large NZ Fur Seal (Kekeno) colony. Well I thought it was large until I walked a little further on. These seals appeared to be a lot more skittish than the ones at Point Kean & further up the Kaikoura coastline because as they saw me coming most started to move away looking over their shoulders as they went. I didn’t want to disturb them so I took a few zoomed shots and headed back over the path and up the steep stairway.

Seals rest on a "Hanging Garden"

“I’m the King of the Castle”

Outcast- this little fellow was all by himself out to the side. He wasn’t happy to see me either.

Back at the top I continued on along the walkway and at the next view point it was a huge surprise to see the size of the seal colony below. Like chocolate sprinkles on a cake there were hundreds of seals, dotted across the grass & resting head to tail over the limestone rocks. White rocks with lots dark patches, stained from the resting seals. I was too far above them to get a whiff but I can only imagine the stench that would emanate from that lot.

The track continued on around another small bay to another platform…..

…that revealed even more seals, hundreds of them taking up every available space on every limestone peak that cleared the tide.

It was fascinating watching them through the binoculars, a withering mass of blubber moving about, some finding new spots to rest, others getting a growling for encroaching into another space, some arriving, some leaving, some cooling off in tiny pools of seawater and many just sleeping. A city of seals going about their business. Imagine the food bill!

This next photo should give you an indication of how high up I was. Can you spot the two people exploring on the rocks? While I was standing taking photos near this edge here I got the fright of my life when a person suddenly appeared in my viewfinder. How could that be I thought, I’m pointing it out over the cliff. I moved closer and he had climbed up a very steep ridge that came up the point from below, a steep clay wall with no plants on it and a few gouges he could use for foot & handholds. How he made it I have no idea. He looked pretty startled himself when he found he was at the top. Some people…..

Finally I reached Point Kean & the carpark (with the town of Kaikoura in the distance), and the end of the section I was walking. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk and although it was cold I had walked it in the right direction, I had the wind to my back the whole way.

The carpark seals slumber on. These guys have no fear, unlike their cousins in the colonies further round the point.

My personal taxi arrived and we headed off to get groceries with just a quick stop at the historic Fyffe House, Kaikoura’s oldest surviving building & a link to Kaikoura’s whaling past. It was built in 1860 and stands on piles made from whalebone vertebrae. Across the road is an old brick chimney, this is all that remains of the former customhouse. I thought it looked like it would be a great place to cook up a pot of mussels or BBQ the crayfish you just pulled out of the sea.

Back in town the clouds had lifted off the mountains to provide this beautiful snow covered backdrop. Imagine waking up each day with this on your doorstep, you couldn’t help but go off to work smiling.