(July 20) Kaikōura - Fur Seals and Wharenui

     Today our class left the valleys of Waipara and ventured to the rocky coast of Kaikōura! After the long drive there, we got out on the side of the motorway and saw a colony of New Zealand Fur Seals lining the beach and tide pools! These fur seals, while rather awkward on land, and extremely agile in the water, where they catch fish, squid, and other aquatic life for food. We could have spent hours looking at these adorable creatures! As cute as they looked from our vantage point, they would definitely crush us, as full grown females can weigh as much as 110 pounds, and males can weigh up to 330 pounds! 

Wide-angle view of the Fur Seal colony

Two pup siblings playing with each other, then one runs to hide by Mom!

Ava took a cute video of this dancing boy!

Ava also took an amazing video of the seals frolicking in the tide pools!

     After visiting the fur seals, our group travelled further north to visit Ōhau Point, which was another lookout point. However, there was another pou whenua, which is a land marker showing possession of an area by the local iwi tribe. The native iwi are the Ngāi Tahu, the largest Māori iwi tribe on the South Island. The statue depicts Tūteurutira, one of the past chiefs of the Ngāi Tahu iwi. In 2016, Kaikōura was hit by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which devastated the coastal city. Ōhau Point, along with many kilometers of the highway it rests on, were leveled by it, so the Ōhau Point that we saw today was new and had a different view, as the earthquake lifted some of the shoreline and intertidal zone above sea level.

Posin’ with Tūteurutira!

After visiting the beaches, we travelled to the Takahanga Marae, which is the sacred meeting grounds of the Ngāi Tahu iwi. We were able to walk around the outsides of the Marae grounds and see the outsides of the buildings, which had beautifully hand-carved whakairo (wood carvings) on the buildings and surrounding area! We also got to see the outside of the wharenui (pronounced “fa-reh-noo-ee”), which is the sacred meeting house of the marae. The current marae sits on the same ground as the original marae did 200 years ago! The wharenui here is unique, as it was one of the first to allow women into their rūnanga, or executive councils. After exploring the marae grounds, we made the 2.5 hour drive back to Christchurch.

Front view of the marae with a gorgeous coastline vista!

Main grounds of the marae, with the wharenui front and center!

Ka kite anō

Nico