Kaikoura, New Zealand is located on the east coast of the south island.  It has become an Eco-tourism town, primarily  because the ocean just off shore is very deep and  strong upwelling currents bring food from the depths feeding a large assortment of marine animals, including Humpback Whales.  In fact Kaikoura was originally a whaling station.  As I said earlier, it’s gone Eco-tourist and has a Green Globe Tourism certification evidenced by two large seal colonies, dolphin, and a huge assortment of sea birds including albatross, literally in town.

My wife Ellenda and I were in Kaikoura for a few days to attend a wedding, which was held high on a bluff overlooking the South Pacific Ocean.  It was a beautiful affair in a beautiful place.  The next day my traveling buddy was in a pizza place run by a guy who claimed to have the best pizza on the south island (could be).  In casual conversation he mentioned they were expecting larger than normal waves the next couple of days and that he’d be surfing.  I awoke early the next morning hearing what I thought was way too much traffic on the little road that ran by our condo, which was a few miles south of town.  After listening a few seconds longer I realized it was the booming of waves on the beach.  I got up, dressed in the dark so as not to awaken anyone, grabbed my backpack with camera and lens and headed the 3/4 mile to the ocean.

In order to get there I had to climb a pretty high hill and then down to a black sand beach that stretches a mile or so in both directions.  The beach has an east/west orientation and with the early morning sun shining through the mist, the air was a deep yellow with a few clouds high and thin, giving the light a Chimera quality, good for shooting water;  that’s what I was there for.  At the northeast end of the beach is the Kaikoura Peninsula and to the southwest some low mountains. It was a pretty spectacular sight and not another soul to be seen.  The waves were breaking large and heavy, but not the best for surfing since they crest and fall fast because of a deep dip at waters edge.  If you departed east from from this beach at 42 degrees south latitude, the next land mass would be southern Chile, 6000 miles away.  After an hour or so Ellenda joined me, and we spent another hour just enjoying the morning and taking photos.  On our return to the condo we again had to climb the hill, walking through the aroma of lavender that remained in our clothes for some time afterwards.  As we approached the top of the hill looking west, we viewed the snow capped Seaward Kaikoura Mountain Range.  It all was so weirdly nice, we started laughing.  These photos represent our view from the hill.  Kaikoura New Zealand is just one great beautiful place.  I hope to be back one day. ~ Milton