Storyline: Home to home westward
Kaikoura is an interesting and challenging place. Tucked in a narrow coastal plain between steep mountains and the Pacific Ocean it has incredible views and walks around the coast. Its wildlife, including seals, dolphins, several species of resident and transient whales and various bird species including penguins and the majestic albatross attracts tourists from all over the world. In 2016, the area was struck by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake centred about 60 km southwest of here. The town was cut off for quite some time. There were 50 landslides on the highway alone. The train tracks took about 2 years to restore and the Costal Pacific passenger service was reopened only in December 2018, just when we were planning our trip.
We took the train here from Picton and have to continue today to Christchurch. However, the weather has been more than challenging the last few days. The heavy 24-hour downpour has created another landslide and once again the track is temporarily closed. We’ve been told we’ll be taken to Christchurch by bus. Hope the road remains open, otherwise we’ll have to sleep in our hosts’ lounge.
We were lucky to make the Kaikoura peninsula walkway that winds from the Point Kean Viewpoint up the top of the cliffs and hills to town centre.
This is thanks to Judy, our host, who drove us in the morning to the point some 6 km from her B&B. Our initial plans were to walk to there, hike the trails and come back. But the weather was closing in and Judy rushed us out before it was too late. She made it sound like – it’s now or never – and she knows the weather here.
Glad we did because the weather in the afternoon closed in and is still pouring as we sit in the Whale Watch café and I write this. It is no longer a train station, but the whale watch starting point, where the twice-daily trains stop. The boats depart from South Bay across the peninsula, and its harbour has been dredged to put it back in use since the earthquake made the water there too shallow.
Part way along the trail, we descended to the shore and walked by the water, past rock platforms where we walked among the New Zealand fur seal colonies.
We even spotted an albatross. The path on the beach brought us back to our starting point.
This walk would not have been possible before the earthquake, as the shelf along which we walked was then underwater. Apparently, many places in the earthquake zone were moved horizontally and vertically by up to an astonishing 12 metres (over 39 feet). Our hosts house is two metres higher and eight metres further north than it used to be, and it came through the upheaval with only very minor damage – none of which was structural.
It began raining part way through our walk, and close to the end of the trail I slipped and fell heavily on my side hitting my right side, including my head. Not my day, I guess. Luckily, aside from a heavily swollen and bruised hand I seem to be OK.
Could have been way more dramatic on these sharp rocks.
We passed by the seafood barbeque and ordered sea-food chowder (aroma, look, size and price really attracted me and the servings were also large) and bbq’d scallops, all at a very good price. Just to be disappointed that they only accepted cash or local cards, which we didn’t have with us. Pity, it all smelled so good.
And so, we stopped at the Pier Hotel restaurant that Judy had recommended, had the seafood plater for lunch with wine for me and beer for Alex. After lunch we walked all the way to our B&B, stopping at Chiwis Café for refreshments and at the grocery for our dinner take out.
Being quite in pain from the fall I tucked myself into bed and cleaned up some photos.
Another thing I want to mention in this post is that Kaikoura does not have municipal garbage collection. Because of this they recycle well. Our hosts burn all the paper and napkins in their fireplace. The rest, well-organised is driven to the recycle depot and dumped correspondingly. This is the approach taken, in addition to all the residential homes, by the motels, hotels, restaurants, etc.
The name of the town itself means the meal of crayfish in Maori. It is said that Kaikoura is the place to eat crayfish, which is actually a New Zealand rock lobster. Unfortunately missing out on the BBQ seafood place we could not even think of trying it elsewhere. It was prohibitively expensive for our retiree budget – a minimum of $65NZD for a half lobster tail.
Currently the town is also under boil water advisory. Apparently, the reservoir needs some repairs and who knows when this will end. So, we practice for our future visits in Malaysia and Thailand.
Today is quite uneventful with all the water coming down from the sky. We stayed for the morning by the living room fireplace after vacating our room. It is Sunday, April 7th here and NZ just “fell back” onto daylight saving time, so we gained an hour. Judy works at the Whale Watch on Sundays. She came home for her lunch break and drove us here. She locked our luggage on the platform – they have a few cages for this purpose. Thanks Judy! Luckily the café was open, so we did not have to get wet searching for a lunch place. We’ll be kicked out shortly since they are closing, but there is a room where we can sit until the bus arrives.
It’s becoming a theme for our stay here…missed opportunities. Between the weather, road closures (see “When things go south” on canceling Franz Josef) and Alex’s lingering cold, we haven’t been able to see or do all that we wanted. Still, we managed to see and do a lot so far, and New Zealand is a lovely country. We’ll enjoy it whatever the weather.
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