Kaikoura

We loved Kaikoura when we came through about ten years ago, and in spite of the earthquake damage (November 2016), it still retains its colourful charm and character. There are some fabulous murals. I only managed to photograph a couple this time round.

Looking back at the entrance to Kaikoura township . . .

And a view towards town. You can see the whale mural half way down the street on the right.

The beaches were stony on both sides of the peninsula. These photos are from the northern side. You can see the southern side in my Kaikoura NZMCA Park blog post.

In the township, there's a bridge across Lyell Creek to get to the beach.

 Signs of earthquake damage to the shops not yet repaired.

There was a shop window devoted to the story of the quake, a timeline and a tribute to those who helped during the crisis.

A few shops have not yet reopened, but notice the yarn bombing!

A colourful, cheerful addition to the braces put in place to support the shop verandas.

We stopped to speak to a local who had this beautiful dog in the tray of his ute. Bella's story was poignant. Her owner rescued her from a plastic bag full of puppies that had been thrown into the sea. Bella was the only survivor. Isn't she beautiful? What some people can do is beyond understanding.

Some small shops have sprung up in these containers. It reminded me of the waterfront in Wellington, except I think the grass and plantings in front of these make them more aesthetically pleasing and quaint!

On the end of the far right container is the recent history of Kaikoura. If you manage to enlarge the "Land Transformed" photo below, you may be able to read about how 80km of coastline was lifted out of the sea, 1700 people were involved in the rebuild, 85 landslides were cleared, 1 million cubic metres of material was moved from landslides, etc.

We took a drive along the waterfront past the township. Here we saw more evidence of how the land has risen.

There were fascinating rock formations in this area. This was probably all under water before the earthquake.

Further around, at the end of the road, we found this access down to a large rocky expanse that people were walking out on to get nearer the sea and the seals. A local told us the water used to come right up the the bottom of the steps!

Seals frequent this area. They come right up to the buildings. Hence the gates in front of the toilets—to keep the seals out!

The road back towards Kaikoura township.

And back to the southern side of the peninsula, this is where some of the fishing boats come in.

Close by was another wharf where the whale watch boat (and others) let off their passengers.

Still on the southern side, more white rocks . . . more evidence of changes in the landscape wrought by the earthquake.

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