Marlborough to Christchurch along the Kaikoura coast.

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Day 1 of our 100 days around the world journey/ adventure in 2018 has arrived. Commencing our journey with a road trip to Christchurch meant a slow drive along the Kaikoura coastline.
The 2016 Kaikoura earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the South Island of New Zealand that occurred two minutes after midnight on 14 November 2016 NZDT. Ruptures occurred on multiple faults and the earthquake has been described as the "most complex earthquake ever studied". The earthquake started at about 15 kilometres (9 mi) north-east of Culverden and 60 kilometres (37 mi) south-west of the tourist town of Kaikoura and at a depth of approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi).The complex sequence of ruptures lasted for about two minutes.The cumulative magnitude of the ruptures was 7.8, with the largest amount of that energy released far to the north of the epicentre. At the beginning of our 2016 travels, the Kaikoura coastline was stunningly scenic with foaming breaking waves crashing onto rocky outcrops, fur seals basking in the winter sunshine and crystal blue rivers tumbling down from mountains covered in a winter cloak of snow and ice towards the sparkling sea. Two years on, the scenery is so much different. Now there are road cones, construction vehicles and stop/ go signs along much of the 194 kilometres of damaged roads and railroad tracks. The seals can no longer frolic in the waterfall pools. Instead they sunbathe on the white uplifted rocks and pools of a coastline filled with the sights and sounds of construction. The waves break on the new shores just the same. It’s only us who remember sadly of how beautifully rugged it used to be. Still over time and weather, nature will heal the scars. For today though, the road was open and although the stop/go signs were more about stop than go we enjoyed being able to see the progress being made. Tomorrow we check out the rebuild progress in Christchurch.

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