Kaikoura, our destination for today, suffered a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 2016. With ruptures occuring along many faults it has been described as one of the most complex earthquakes ever studied (direct from wikipedia so it must be true). The damage cut off all land routes into Kaikoura as well as the rail line. They are still rebuilding so the journey slows considerably as you near the town
Best not to think about the fault lines too much.
We were in town by noon and planned to do a 3-hour peninsula walk that we found on the NZ tourist site. Oh NZ, when will we ever learn that NZ mountain bike trail grades and walk times are given in twenty-something units!
The first part of the walk was supposed to take 50 minutes but took us about an hour and 15. Given that data and the fact that my back was sadly already toast, Tom earned his trekking badge by doing a power walk back into town and fetching the car. I chilled for a bit on a nice bench at the lookout and then wandered around on the rocks to get some pictures. It really is beautiful with the sea and the snow capped mountains in the background.
There is a lot of limestone in the area
We drove to another lookout with a view of the town. The wind is ferocious today so we didn’t linger!
We went back into town and walked out to their public beach. Certainly at this time of year it is just for walking; and it is all rocky, so probably not much sunbathing even in the summer.
After a long chilly and windy afternoon we were hoping for a warm cup of coffee. Most small town shops in New Zealand are only open for a few hours on Saturday and they are closed on Sunday. Only one cafe was open, but a bus had just pulled in to town and all of the passengers were already queued there. Passing on the queue we walked to the end of the main street and found an ice cream shop which served a great long black as well as some very tasty ice cream.
Tonight we are staying in a holiday park in one of their standard cabins. Standard pretty much means just a bed
but check out the view
