Today, though, the road is more breathtaking than ever, offering both man-made and natural marvels – it is arguably the best state highway drive in New Zealand.
On the right-hand side, driving south, witness the magnificent engineering and earthworks that not only allowed the road to be reopened just one year, one month and one day after the 2016 earthquake but also gave it the wide-sweeping cambers and the feel of a world-class highway.
On the left-hand side, at Ohau Point, the seals are back in force, frolicking in the ocean, sunning themselves on rocks. Hundreds of them, growling and barking away.
The coastline and region is also a bird-spotter’s paradise – the area is renowned for Hutton’s shearwater, royal albatross, the Australasian gannet, the white-fronted tern and South Island oystercatcher.
I’m no bird-watcher, but I appreciated the seagulls washing themselves in the stream next to the seals.
The only thing apparently missing in the past couple of weeks has been the whales. The busloads of Chinese tourists arriving into Kaikōura on Thursday evening might be in for a disappointing weekend.
Not all of the wildlife on this coast is alive. The kai moana is bountiful, as the cabinet at Karaka Lobster, on the side of SH1, attests.
The legendary Kaikōura crays can sell for anywhere between $80 and $120, depending on their weight. Some can get up to $150-200.
The Reader family have been selling crays on this coast since 1980, starting out as a small shop at the local campground before shifting to a caravan on the side of the road. The store opened in 2019 and the operation is now led by a second generation of the family.
“We sell around 20 crays a day depending on the rush,” says Summer Spragg, working in the shop over the summer after her first year at university studying communications and Spanish.
“They are caught fresh from the ocean [in front of the shop], cooked every morning and sent here to the cafe. They are legendary and very delicious!”
Editor-at-large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including managing editor, NZ Herald editor and Herald on Sunday editor.
