Kaikoura

Introducing Kaikoura

Take SH1 132km southeast from Blenheim (or 183km north from Christchurch) and you’ll wind around the coast to Kaikoura, a picture-perfect peninsula town backed by the snowcapped 2610m peaks of the Seaward Kaikoura Range. There are few places in the world with such awesome mountains so close to the sea, and such a proliferation of wildlife so close at hand: whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, shearwaters, petrels and albatross.

Marine animals are abundant here due to ocean-current and continental-shelf conditions: the sea bed gradually slopes away from the land to a depth of about 90m, then plunges to more than 800m – warm and cold water converges. When the southerly current hits the continental shelf it creates an upwelling, bringing nutrients up from the ocean floor into the feeding zone.

Until the 1980s, no-one wanted to know about Kaikoura: it was a sleepy crayfishing town (‘Kai’ meaning food, ‘koura’ meaning crayfish) with zero prospects. These days it’s a tourist mecca, with quality accommodation and eating options to match the natural splendour. Wildlife tour companies proliferate.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009