Guided walk a local treat
Kaiköura is humming again following the reopening of SH1 in December. One must-see destination if you’re visiting town is the Kaiko¯ ura Peninsula walk.
The peninsula walking track is an easy, well marked track which crosses the cliff top. It links Point Kean to South Bay and takes about an hour to walk. It can be walked from either direction or direct from Kaiko¯ ura township.
On February 25, at Point Kean car park, you can walk the track with a Department of Conservation (DOC) guide, as part of the Kaiko¯ ura Summer Explorer programme.
The Peninsula Walk was initiated by DOC in 2002 and involved Te Ru¯ nanaga o Kaiko¯ ura, Te Ru¯ nanga o Ngai Tahu, Whale Watch Kaiko¯ ura and the Kaiko¯ ura District Council.
Starting at Point Kean, you’re likely to encounter seals on the rocky platforms out from the car park. Oystercatchers and reef herons can be seen feeding in the area and shags are common. Blue penguins may be seen bobbing just offshore.
A platform in the shape of a waka sits at the top of the walkway and information panels display stories from history. Legend says Ma¯ ui used the Kaiko¯ ura peninsula as a foothold to brace himself when he fished the North Island from the sea.
Kaiko¯ ura means ‘eat crayfish’, recalling when Tama ki te Raki ate crayfish while on his journey around the South Island in pursuit of his three runaway wives.
The peninsula is rich in 800 years of Ma¯ori tradition. Early Ma¯ ori hunted moa and sheltered in coastal caves and in the 1850s, a grave was found with the skeleton of a man holding the largest complete moa egg ever discovered.
As moa numbers declined, gardening became more important and settlements more permanent. There are at least fourteen pa¯ sites on the peninsula and many experienced fierce battles. Today Nga¯i Tahu occupy the area at Takahanga Marae in the township.
At Whalers Bay viewpoint you can drop down steps to the coast where seabirds, seals, crayfish floats and fishing boats can be seen.
More coastal views and rolling hilltops can be seen towards South Bay. A predator-proof enclosure, home to a colony of Kaiko¯ ura Titi, or Hutton’s Shearwater seabirds was established in 2006 to encourage birds to return to the coastal area. It provides a safe nesting colony for one of the few seabirds to have survived on the mainland of New Zealand.
Around March each year, Hutton’s shearwaters migrate across the Tasman where they winter in Australian waters. Their return in late spring is a highlight celebrated annually in Kaiko¯ ura.
From the Hutton’s shearwater enclosure the walk continues south along the cliffs with excellent views to South Bay- whales can sometimes be viewed from here. The last part of the track descends to finish at South Bay carpark.
"The peninsula is rich in 800 years of Ma¯ ori tradition. Early Ma¯ ori hunted moa and sheltered in coastal caves."