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| The Wrong Side of The Tracks. |
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| Photogenic Cheese Cake |
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| Black Lava Shingle and Aqua-Marine Water. |
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| Long Defunct Whaling Stations Litter the Bay. |
We woke up at the Top 10 Camp site in Kaikoura, slightly earlier than anticipated when the 2am Nelson to Christchurch freight train shunted 30 wagons past, only 20 feet from the perimeter fence.
And again at 3am and then at 4am. By 5am I was attacking the signal box with a fork, five miles up track, in a vain attempt to switch the points. With hindsight, a screw-driver might have been a better choice.
After that we slept until 6.45am when the whale watching helicopter whirred into life and lifted off from the helipad, just the other side of the railway tracks.
After a bleary-eyed breakfast, we snaffled the much valued opportunity for a hot shower and made our way to Kaikoura Esplanade to register for a dolphin watching trip, en route to a 4 hour walk to the local gull and seal colony.
The routine of a steep hill climb followed by the stunning vista of an azure bay, failed to disappoint. Nature had almost completely reclaimed the line of long defunct whaling stations that had powered the local economy but driven the resident Hump-Back and migratory Right whale to the point of extinction.
It was only the population collapse of the over exploited quarry, induced by the mechanised methods of slaughter, including bombs and rocket propelled harpoons, that consigned the whaling industry in Kaikoura to the same fate. Slowly the communities of whale species have recovered and are beginning to thrive once more as a result of the exceptionally fertile waters off the Kaikoura peninsula. Fed by the upwelling of nutrients from the ocean floor, caused by the combination of prevailing currents and the steepness of the off shore shelf, it is an area of exceptional biological variety.
The routine of a steep hill climb followed by the stunning vista of an azure bay, failed to disappoint. Nature had almost completely reclaimed the line of long defunct whaling stations that had powered the local economy but driven the resident Hump-Back and migratory Right whale to the point of extinction.
It was only the population collapse of the over exploited quarry, induced by the mechanised methods of slaughter, including bombs and rocket propelled harpoons, that consigned the whaling industry in Kaikoura to the same fate. Slowly the communities of whale species have recovered and are beginning to thrive once more as a result of the exceptionally fertile waters off the Kaikoura peninsula. Fed by the upwelling of nutrients from the ocean floor, caused by the combination of prevailing currents and the steepness of the off shore shelf, it is an area of exceptional biological variety.
The sea is two tone when viewed from the cliff top vantage point. A mile or two out from the black, lava shingle beaches that line the peninsula, the sea is dark blue even on the sunniest of days. The depths descend to 1,000 metres and more in the Tsangian trench.
Closer inshore there is an abrupt change as the submarine cliff faces rise vertically from the sea bed. The water becomes a cloudy and enchanting aqua marine. Soft and soluble limestone from which most of the eroding cliffs are made, has dissolved over the eons, to give the water a picturesque hue. The beaches mimic the trench walls and also rise steeply from the surf and the black smooth sea washed shingle rattles with the onset and retreat of each wave.
Closer inshore there is an abrupt change as the submarine cliff faces rise vertically from the sea bed. The water becomes a cloudy and enchanting aqua marine. Soft and soluble limestone from which most of the eroding cliffs are made, has dissolved over the eons, to give the water a picturesque hue. The beaches mimic the trench walls and also rise steeply from the surf and the black smooth sea washed shingle rattles with the onset and retreat of each wave.
After returning across the headland to the Esplanade, we stopped at the Encounter café, which the Lonely Planet regards as the best watering hole in town. We had latte and a generous and extremely photogenic slice of raspberry cheesecake. After a more leisurely stroll down the high street the time had come for Risotto and bed.
The 2am freight train failed to appear and I slept undisturbed with a screw-driver tucked happily under my pillow.
Hey Plastic Stanchions!
ReplyDeleteI am really glad you liked it. It means alot when people like it enough to post some feed back. I am in Bristol England so it is cool to see comments coming in from all over the world. Thank God for the web!
Tim