Poppies

Knowing that the Whale Watchers would be arriving early for their 8.30 sailing, an early-ish rise was called for.  At 6.15 my alarm went off and a peek through the curtains said two things; firstly, I'd missed the sunrise and secondly, it was a glorious looking day.  Once I made it out of the van things looked even better - the snow-covered Kaikoura range was stunning standing above the glass-like water of the ocean.  The wind coming in over those snowy mountains was a different story though - very chilly!  Teejay and I breakfasted then she was off on her journey towards home down south.  I spent a while chatting to a fellow camper-vanner who was parked alongside before heading away to see what the day would hold.

First journey was to head north.  I really wasn't sure how far I'd be able to go as the road north is completely closed to traffic and will be for quite some time.  Maybe 10 or 15 kms along the road the bright orange road-cone barrier came into view.  Alongside it was a 'hut' with a young man, dressed in the obligatory fluro vest and donning the obligatory fluro hard hat.  I walked up the road to talk with him.......   Fascinating!  Beyond the point where we were 4 helicopters were completing continuous circuits.......fly to ocean, drop monsoon bucket into ocean, fill up with over a tonne and a half of water, fly up to higher reaches of hill beyond, dump water on carefully identified location so it sluices the loose rocks, boulders, trees and other debris down hillside.  The plan is to dislodge as much debris as is needed to make the land safe enough for the abseilers to go up and begin their work - though I didn't get much info on what they will do.  This hill is the location of the biggest slip along the coast and is just around the 'corner' from the Ohau stream and the seal-pup playground.  No-one really knows what condition the waterfall and pool are in but rumours suggest that the playground is probably destroyed.  The earthquake has a big effect on wildlife too, though apparently the seals are re-gathering along the coast in that area so they clearly adapt fairly quickly!

Drive back to Kaikoura town (past this patch of beautiful, colourful, vibrant poppies that I knew I simply had to stop at!) and park at the rock platform we parked at yesterday at low tide.  This time though - it's high tide.  Could still walk across the platform for quite some distance but the 'green area' I crossed yesterday was now water-bound.  I guess the seaweed, barnacles, limpits etc that are attached to these rocks aren't going to survive spending a significant proportion of their life out of water and will, in time, die off.  I did catch a comment from an older lady standing at the sea wall in the carpark who said that before the 'quake, the water at high tide would wash right up to the wall and splash over it.  Now at high tide, with the rocky platform having been thrust upwards by well over a metre, the water is dozens of metres away.  

It's been a fascinating trip into Kaikoura but I'll be heading home tomorrow.  There's certainly a lot more I would like to look at, see and do here but now the town is beginning to emerge from its disaster I feel more comfortable planning for a return.  High on the list will be a whale watch experience - a clear sign that the town is beginning to stand back up is that there are no places on a trip for another few days.  Mind you - they're only running one of their four boats at the moment.  I'll add that to my to-do for another time.  Soon, I hope.
In the meantime I'm happy that my 2 days of feeding a few dollars into their economy will have made a small contribution to helping to get the town back on its feet again.

Oooohhh......and as I type my last few words another quake rattles our worlds!!  4.4......moderate.   Felt worse in the van I suspect!