Sunday saw the mailleman & I deciding to take a trip North up the coast to the small township of Kaikoura. It's years since we have just gone for a drive for the sake of it.
In fact I may have commented that you know when middle age has snuck up & bit you on the butt, when you are free of kids & instead of planning a raging night out with booze & music - you plan a 'Sunday drive' instead! Oh my - we have become our parents! When did that happen?
Kaikoura is a town approximately 150 Kilometers(94 miles) North East of Christchurch. The trip itself involves quite a bit of hill driving & some pretty scenery. Unlike Christchurch the coast is rugged & rocky, with sea's that seem insistant on pounding the rocky shoreline & wearing it down even further. It's years since I have been there & often when I have passed through it's been grey & cloudy with a rough dark sea.
Sunday was an exception! Beautiful blue skies & a warm breeze. The light was amazing - & the both the skies & sea colour could change within a couple of miles of travel. Parts of the Kaikoura coast have mountains coming down to the roadside & this affects the light hugely.
There are a few other close up photo's in the post below.
In fact I may have commented that you know when middle age has snuck up & bit you on the butt, when you are free of kids & instead of planning a raging night out with booze & music - you plan a 'Sunday drive' instead! Oh my - we have become our parents! When did that happen?
Kaikoura is a town approximately 150 Kilometers(94 miles) North East of Christchurch. The trip itself involves quite a bit of hill driving & some pretty scenery. Unlike Christchurch the coast is rugged & rocky, with sea's that seem insistant on pounding the rocky shoreline & wearing it down even further. It's years since I have been there & often when I have passed through it's been grey & cloudy with a rough dark sea.
Sunday was an exception! Beautiful blue skies & a warm breeze. The light was amazing - & the both the skies & sea colour could change within a couple of miles of travel. Parts of the Kaikoura coast have mountains coming down to the roadside & this affects the light hugely.
Going over "The Hundalees"
Mountains to the left of us, Coastline to the right,
Here I am stuck in a tunnel with you...
Here I am stuck in a tunnel with you...
Those wonderful worn rocks & Three "mine, mine, mine's"
Looking back across to the road & mountains
Towards Kaikoura
This shows just how changeable it was - only a couple of miles up the road from the last photo.
North of Kaikoura township
South Bay - Where all the whale watch boats leave from.
Head back home, through The Hundalees
A peek or a peak.
Towards dusk.
There are a few other close up photo's in the post below.
OMG! My Sunday drives don't look anything like that! It's so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your wonderful pics.
ReplyDeleteI like the macrocosm/microcosm feel to this pair of posts, Deb. The rock pools are in incredible little world of their own, tucked away amongst all that terrific ocean-meets-mountain landscape. I also laughed at the reference to the "mine, mine, mine's"! I don't know if people described them that way before the Finding Nemo movie, but I think it is a perfect characterization...and I laugh every time I think about it.
ReplyDeleteThose rock pools definitely look like fun. I can imagine spending hours in the sunshine hunting for all the different goodies in the rocks. What a terrific trip!
I would have to drive for days to hit anything close to that splendidness! for the record, I would choose a drive like that over a party too :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking us on the trip with you :)
Wow Deb, how amazingly beautiful! And such variation along the way, it's like the perfect Sunday drive :O)
ReplyDelete