Kaikoura: Part 1 - ‘Ki Uta Ki Tai'

Public Fence Protest - Kaikoura

(Title translation: ‘The Conservation and Protection of the Mountains to the Sea’)

Finally, the big stuff. Well, not really. At least it’s consistent! Which is a good thing, seeing as I probably wouldn’t even bother paddling out if the swells were over 2m. By big stuff, I guess I really mean the first absolute challenge we’ve met on this Summer Tour .


The Southern Summer Tour Team rolled into Kaikoura this past Saturday (16 Nov) and didn’t even make the town before suiting up and paddling out at the Maungamanu point break. The waves, probably 1.5m on average at the time, were just so sweet and inviting, and the rocky ‘beach’ so crowded, that we had to pull off the highway. When (unfairly) compared to the West Coast, the breaks around Kaikoura are way more consistent, and (because of the weather we walked into) predictable, offering some of the best surfing I have ever experienced, and definitely the best stuff we’ve encountered on the South Island. Kaikoura is, truly, the southern surf mecca of Aotearoa.

Maungamanu point break - Surfing with Seals and Oil?

It also faces a growing crisis in the form of a planned Deep Sea Oil drilling site off it’s coast. This is a massive problem, and one the entire community is against, surfers and non-surfers alike. Kaikoura (the name means ‘Meal of Crayfish’ in Māori), is a bastion of maritime wildlife; just drive from Blenheim to Kaikoura and you’ll not only stop to see 2 Seal colonies, but also a waterfall where young seal pups hang out and learn how to socialize while their folks are off fishing. And that’s just what you can see from the highway.


Because of its geological composition (and, I guess, geography), Kaikoura has a deep sea trench right at its doorstep. Of course, because of the swells coming in from south, and the way the winds work, this makes it a surfing paradise. It also makes it something of a paradise for whales, many pods of which live almost immediately off the coast in the deeper water (one of Kaikoura’s big tourist draws is the whale watching).


Sadly, it’s in these waters where oil companies (mostly American, though they have full compliance and permission from the NZ government) plan on deep sea drilling. The drilling, in these waters, will not only disrupt the lives of all of our ocean friends who inhabit the region, the potential – given the recent track records of big oil – for a spill is too high for this to be a good idea.


Since the idea’s inception it has met with a very powerful corporate (Greenpeace) and grassroots (locals and tourists alike) resistance, and protest against the proposal (which is now taking shape, with rigs appearing off the coast) has only been on the rise.


It is in this type of environment where you can feel exactly how fragile the world, and her oceans, are, and it is also a place where someone like myself feels exceedingly welcome (I’ll try and include more on the actual surfing community, and a little about the breaks, in my next post). It’s also the type of place a Soul Surfer Ambassador wishes they could spend the entire summer, surfing and working towards social and environmental justice. Unfortunately, that’s not in the cards.


Check out the following links for more information, and to find out what you can do to help:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/StopKaikouraOilDrilling

Get Free: http://www.getfree.org.nz/group/no-drill-kaikoura/


Aroha, and Ride With EXTREME Care!
Kikila
20 November, Kaikoura