Kaikōura – Day 2

Kaikōura – Day 2

The name Kai (food) Koura (Crayfish) has its origin in the story of Tamatea-Pokai-Whenua who in 1450 stopped off at the peninsula to cook a feed of crayfish on his way south to search for three of his wives who had fled. Bent on recapturing the wayward women he pursued them down the East Coast, through Foveaux Strait then north up the West Coast. All to no avail as he found one turned to greenstone at Milford.

With this inspiring story in mind, we set out to have a look at the urban center (centre) of Kaikōura. Unfortunately the weather was not nearly as nice as yesterday. It didn’t rain, but the clouds cost us views of the mountains that form an impressive backdrop on a clear day.

The first thing I saw after we parked was this tree with interesting bark. What kind of tree is it? Search me.
If you’ve been to New Zealand, you’ll recognize the unique look of the vegetation. Look at the variety. The native trees, even the ones with leaves, are evergreen.
We enter the Lydia Washington Garden through a whale bone arch.
Agapanthus – not a native plant.
A house for Māori birds?

Emerging from the garden, we made a walking tour of the commercial district. This took us past the fairly hideous Council building.

We’re off for a walk along the clifftop at Point Kean.

it used to be that walkers had to follow the clifftop trail out-and-back. Since the earthquake, which raised land from the sea, it’s been possible to loop back along the beach at any tide.

Of course our excursion ended with a late lunch at the pub.

A historical note: back when New Zealand had only three or four brands of beer, Speights was my favorite (favourite). It comes from Dunedin, my old home town, and used to have limited distribution.

A classic: pub on the ground floor, hotel rooms above.

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