Blenheim and Wairau Lagoons

The sunrise this morning was spectacular. We were staying about 10 mins by car out of the town of Kaikoura where  there were no streetlights and very few houses.  I got up in the middle of the night and looked out at the stars - what a sight. The milky way was directly above and it seemed spectacularly bright and beautiful and quiet. 

The sunrise up over the ocean was equally as beautiful. It kept changing every few minutes and it seemed to get better and better.  Another hot, hot, hot day in Kaikoura awaited. 

Time for us to saddle up and leave Kaikoura and slowly make our way back to Picton to catch the return ferry to the north island. The drive up the Kaikoura coast is spectacular, it hugs the ocean for quite a way and the sea was a flat as a pancake.  We stopped at various points to admire the beauty of it all and at every stop we saw dolphins just off the shore line - wonderful. They were too quick to capture on camera but a wonderful sight to see.  The marine life on this trip has been great. We've seen seals, sea lions, whales and dolphins all frolicking or going about their business off shore - wonderful. 

The land is tinder dry. Some of the stock looked as parched as the land and where there were a few trees for shade the sheep or cattle had wisely all found a spot for respite from the 30degrees heat. Gradually grapevines started appearing alongside the highway in  place of stock as we neared Blenheim. The contrast between the green vines and the dry hills was quite something. 

We took a walk around the Wairau Lagoon salt marshes.  It was amazing to see the funnel web spiders creating a thriving habitat there in all the hot, dry, salt marsh weed.  It was too hot for a long walk but great to see the bird life thriving there in a small lagoon beside the salt marsh. 

Kaikoura

 

Saturday 20 January 2024

We farewelled Ashburton and hit the road north, heading for Kaikoura. Our intention was to bypass Christchurch but we made a quick stop and spotted five American Hercules on the tarmac. They are probably part of the ice programme and support the American base in Antarctica. I wouldn't want to face the 12 hour trip in these boneshakers. 

On the drive into Kaikoura we were fortunate to spot some whales off shore well south of the actual Kaikoura township.   

Kaikoura appears to have bounced back from the devastating earthquake and it was good to see so many visitors  walking about and supporting the local restaurants and shops. We took a walk to the lookout point and looking down to the shore it was easy to see just how much the seabed had risen and changed the rocky foreshore. 

The crayfishing industry has recovered and there are so many restaurants offering crayfish and fresh caught blue cod and chips. The old original Ninns Binns crayfish shack/caravan is still operating on the state highway north of Kaikoura so they made it through Covid. 

The compressed limestone rock which has been pushed up from the ocean floor through various earthquakes is great to look at. We watched as a heron hopped about on the rocks catching small insects. 

The spectacular Kaikoura ranges that line the town are free of snow at the moment, they must look stunning in the middle of winter but boy it would be freezing cold. 

After a very noisy night the previous night in Ashburton where every truck passing  seemed to have their airbrakes on full throttle, it was a relief to be staying a little bit out of town on the edge of a golf course with a view of the ocean - bliss. 

Oamaru or Europe? oh - and Moeraki

 

 

Oamaru has New  Zealand's best preserved Victorian streetscapes - they should make movies here .... you could think you were in Europe.  

The impressive Oamaru stone architecture is testament to what a booming town Oamaru was at one time. The port is famous for sending the worlds first frozen export meat around the world.  There must have been a great deal of trade, check out two of the magnificent bank buildings well preserved in the town centre. There are so many impressive buildings, churches and streets all with Victorian architecture ...it's incredible. 

Like so many South Island boom towns, times have been hard and the town relies on agriculture, small fishing fleets and more recently  it has become New Zealand's steam punk centre - people travel from all over NZ and Australia for steam punk conventions!

Not to be missed on any coastal lap of the south island, the Moeraki Boulders are fascinating. 

They originally started forming in ancient sea floor sediments around 60 million years ago, and the largest boulders are estimated to have taken about 4 million years to get to their current size.

The boulders can be seen at low tide and you can see the cracks  from thousands of years of heating and cooling and erosion. 

New boulders are slowly being revealed through natural erosion along the seabed and coastline. 

The little village of Moeraki is as 'cute as a button' and has a small fishing wharf and a small settlement of houses. The famed 'Fleurs Place' restaurant used to be open here but it didn't make it through Covid unfortunately. 

Nugget Point and heading North

17 January 2024

We have been loving exploring the Catlins coast. The weather has been a mix of cold, fierce wind and gloomy skies and then the sun bursting though to keep us cheered up on our lap around the South Island exterior.  Today we set off early Nugget Point lighthouse. There were some beautiful little sheltered bays as we neared closer to the famed Nugget Point light house. The little tradtional baches along the way were lovely, its not yet been completely built out with new super baches.... but they are sprouting up. 

The first sight  of the Nugget Point light is striking. It sits all alone and you need to walk down to the light along a little trail with sheer cliffs on each side. It is one of the oldest lights still functioning in New Zealand and named Nugget Point as Captain James Cook thought the little islands in the sea looked like gold nuggets. 

There were so many seals lolling about on the rocks below the light and alongside the rocks beneath the hiking trail to the light. Superb to see the seals surfing so beautifully in the clear water below.  

We thought how clever the colony of Spoonbills were nesting on the sheltered side of one of the nuggets. We've never seen so many Spoonbills in one place, they obviously have a good food source here and not too many predators on their claimed island. 

Onwards up the east side of the south island to Mosgiel for the evening. We had to stop at the famed Tunnel Beach and you can see why everyone says 'go to Tunnel Beach'. As you walk down the trail the site of the rock formations carved by the sea and thousands of years of wild tides... its a stunning sight. 

You can take a walk through a tunnel carved into the stone and come to a sheltered secluded beach where the story goes early smugglers carved secret caves into the rocks to store their booty. 

The littel sheltered beach with the secret tunnels is beautiful. It's framed by sheer cliffs with the most amazing colours weathered into from centuries of weather. 

Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge and then zoom in to see nature in all is glory :)

One last stop at St Clair's beach where we spotted a few surfers having an evening surf - a great day on the road down south. 

                                            

Catlins coast

 

The Catlins coast has a mix of stunning coast and lush rain forest and isolated beaches. Our first stop was the historic Waipapa Lighthouse at Waipapa Point. It's the sight of NZ largest civilian shipwreck. In 1881  131 of the 151 passengers lives were lost on the SS Tararua on Waipapa reef. Today we were the only ones there and a lone sea lion surfing in the waves below.  What  an isolated life the lighthouse keeper and his wife must have had, there is nothing for miles. 

We could see a big front rolling in to add to the dramatic location.  

On a sunny day the little sheltered beach directly below the light would be lovely, you'd just have to watch out for territorial seals. 

There's a lot of big sky on this coast, surfies must love it down here. 

Onwards to Slope Point.  This beats Bluff and is New Zealand's most southern point on the south island. It's a stunning mix of golden tussock grass, deep blue sea and sheer cliff faces that are constantly being carved and shaped by the high seas. 

The winds must be fierce here, the trees are all sloping in the direction of the prevailing wind. 

Onwards to Curio Bay - another absolute stunner of a place.  Once you get your eye in you can see that as you walk along the rocky tidal pools that your are walking on a petrified forest. 

The ancient fossil forest dates back 180 million years. It is now home to the little yellow eyed penguin who nest here  and during summer if you are lucky you could spot the rare Hector's dolphin. No show on the wildlife for us today,  spotting the fossil forest everywhere you looked was incredible. 

By this point we were ready for a coffee break and each little settlement we approached we had high hopes for a cafe but no luck.   We kept exploring the little beach tracks and found an old wharf at Waikawa bay tucked away - beautiful spot. 

Still no coffee but time to stretch our legs and explore the Tautauku estuary. Stunning, large estuary with the most amazing amount of sea snails and crabs I've ever seen in an estuary. This must be  a wading birds paradise.  

In a 'blink and you'll miss it' settlement of Niagra Falls we found the best coffee spot on the Catlins coast. It looked to be in an old school house which has been turned into a cafe and gardens - a peacful haven with the most beautiful garden setting out back.  Home made bread, eggs from the farm, the best carrot cake in the south island, a gem of a spot. The settlement was named by a wag of a surveyor who found a small waterfall up the road, hence Niagra falls. 

Coffee and food on board the Catlins coast road was calling. We stopped at the top of Florence Hill and looked back to the spectacular Tautuku Bay. 

A bit further along we came to the little settlement of Pounawea. Again another river estuary that leads to a large basin that is home to several species of wading birds. 

We spotted several Dotteral and Spoonbills that were far off in the estuary.  A perfect spot for them as not much human intervention to destroy their magnificent habitat. 

Our final stop for the day was Owaka. It is the heart of the Catlins coast with a local pub, a couple of cafe's, a book shop and believe it or not an amazing interior design and gift store. The store ships to all over New Zealand and had some beautiful stock... a bit like a little version of Martinborough but southern styles.   

Obviously some quirky folks in Owaka, check out the teapot front garden...where all good teapots go to retire. 

The most unusual sight of the day goes to the gal riding on the back of the ute around some winding country roads holding on to the dog... southern styles :)