Friday,, July 26 - On the road to Kaikoura

We awoke from the Waipara Sleepers to gather our things, eat breakfast, and clean up before heading out in the Gator Waka for Kaikoura.

The group huddles together for warmth while waiting to enter the Waka

We made a stop along the way to Kaikoura at Cheviot for morning tea time. After tea time, we continued along, passing many farmlands and hills with sadly very little native vegetation (although the hills looked like they were draped in green velvet in the sun - editors m&m).

  

We saw the Kaikoura mountain range on our way to Kaikoura

We were able to see the Kaikoura mountain range from far away, which was neat, but we didn't actually see it while we were there because of all the fog that rolled in and stayed strong day. Some background context for the Kaikoura mountain range: the Kaikoura mountain range is the northeastern most part of the Alps mountain range on the South Island, with the city of Kaikoura, which lies near a fault zone, about a 3-hour drive from our Lincoln Dormitory rooms.

Knowing that the city of Kaikoura is close to a fault zone is key information for understanding that a major earthquake (7 on the Richter scale) hit Kaikoura four years ago, which has had lasting impacts that could be seen as we drove in and around Kaikoura. Once we got to Kaikoura, we stopped for a restroom break before heading north through the Hikurangi Marine Reserve, a road very close to the rocky coast that is undergoing some serious construction because of the damage that falling rocks from the earthquake did to the road.

We saw lots of construction in and around roads to Kaikoura

Although it took extra time to get through the construction, we did make it to Ohau point where we saw a large colony of New Zealand fur seals before eating some lunch in a newly reconstructed car park.

We saw many fur seals at Ohau point

This fur seal in particular was the biggest we saw at Ohau point

After lunch at Ohau point we then headed back south to Point Kean in Kaikoura where we saw more fur seals, native vegetation, and a rocky zone that had previously been sea floor but was uplifted by 4 meters to what you see in the pictures below. Also shown in the pictures below is a fur seal taking a nap amongst the vegetation with the group in the background.

Uplifted rock that was previously sea floor at Point Kean

Fur seal napping in front of group at Point Kean

In previous years sea stars and sea anemones have been found, but this year that wasn’t the case. Instead, we saw some brown algae and a few different birds, including black-backed gulls, oystercatchers, and shags.

Oystercatchers searching for food at Point Kean

 

Right as we were about to leave, we ended up meeting Brett, a department of conservation person as well as a Maori member of the Takahanga Marae (Maori meeting house) that we would be staying in later on. He told us that unfortunately he couldn’t be with us at the Marae tonight as he had a public event to partake in but he did tell us about the process at the Marae and did a hongi (Maori greeting: a “sharing of breath”) with us before we departed for the Marae.

Brett talking to the group at Point Kean

When we got to the Marae, they didn’t have the formal (powwhiri) welcoming ceremony like we were expecting (usually there is a male and a female speaker of the Maori, and the female will call out to the female “chief” of our group who responds back, and the Maori decide if we are friend or foe and act accordingly) because many Maori of the Marae were either sick or obligated with tasks elsewhere (like Brett and some others that were in different parts of the country), but there was a male speaker to welcome us with the informal welcome who welcomed us with a traditional speech in Maori (letting us know of his homeplace, mountain, etc), and the Maori sang a song for us, to which we sang one back ( “Sweet Caroline”) after our Chief, Mark, let the welcomers know if our mountain and place from which we come. After that, we shared kai (food) with them (a tradition that shows we are now all equals and share the space as friends), and then one of the Maori told us the stories behind the wood-carved panels in the special room we would be staying in (even more special because the Maori told us that at night the knowledge of the Maori ancestors will flow into our minds while we sleep). No photos were allowed to be taken in the Marae since it is the Maori sacred ground, but here is a picture of the outside of the Marae.

The outside of the Marae that we stayed at for the night

After the Marae, we went to get dinner at an Indian restaurant in Kaikoura (which was quite tasty) before heading back to the Marae to rest up for the night. Tomorrow some of the group will go whale watching in Kaikoura while others go for a short hike, before all of us head back together to Lincoln.

-Chris