The Vineyards Escape Damage…

Family Kiwidutch were in New Zealand in December 2017- January 2018. We travelled north from Christchurch on State Highway 1, reopened only five days after more than a year of closure due to twenty-one large landslips over the road and railway, and a physical upwards shifting of land  between 0.5 and 6 metres. We are almost in Blenheim, which is only about half and hours drive from Picton, and the ferry. There is still earthquake damage in the vicinity, closer to the bigger foothills, since the November 2016 quake was a rupturing of multiple faults at the same time. It seems that the vineyards here escaped, or had repairs that could be done swiftly.

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Blenheim…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Once Seen, It Can’t Be Un-Seen…

More photographs as we head north…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

For some reason this next photograph reminds me of the old Windows computer background screen…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Grassmere salt works…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The New Zealand province of Marlborough is known around the world for it’s wines…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

These posts with vine saplings between them give my eyes a sort of false sense of reality. Especially in the second photograph, it almost feels like the photo is upside down (it’s not) and the posts are “buried” into the background brown of the hill behind it. It’s a mind bending effect, caused completely by accident. I found that once seen, I couldn’t “un-see” it. There is a floating quality about it too I think…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

It was only a few kilometres away from Seddon , the tiny rural town where they determined the epicenter of the quake was. Amazingly there was remarkably little damage to the town.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Historic bridge…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Sometimes The Best Design Ideas Are, …Child’s Play.

Family Kiwidutch continue their New Zealand travels in December 2017, travelling north on State Highway 1 and north of Kaikoura. We’ve taken a break at a ‘safe stopping area” as we traverse the various areas of  semi-repaired damage from the November 2016 earthquake. There are numerous “no stopping zones” along the way, and the amount of damage from the tens of large rock slips has taken me quite aback. Our journey progresses…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A little sticker inside our rental car…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We were delighted to see that the ladies and gents manning the ‘stop/go’ signs are giving every motorist a friendly wave.  the road has ben open for five days, I wonder how they will be going after seven weeks of school holidays…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

These concrete blocks have bobble-like tops to them, a bit like Lego bricks. I think its the perfect solution to needing very solid walls that also have flexibility and “give” in an earthquake. These walls will move but the bobble will help keep them interlocked.  Sometimes the best design ideas are   …child’s play.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All of these rocks have been raised up in the quake.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

More friendly, waving road workers…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Landslips everywhere…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

This scenery got here via plate tectonics too…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Gathering gravel to use in road repairs, with multiple land slips behind.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A Safe Stopping Area…

Following yesterday’s post family Kiwidutch have pulled into a ‘safe stopping area” on the Kaikoura – Blenheim section of State Highway 1 in the South Island of New Zealand. Behind and ahead of us repairs are being made to the massive land slips that have blocked this road for more and the past year. The road opened up five days before we used it, so we are some of the first visitors to see first hand the changes to the landscape post the 6.8 earthquake on the Richter scale. I get plenty of family photographs of Himself and the kids as they explore the beach below. The beach looks ‘normal’ but lots of the rocks we are looking at were not visible even at low tide before the quake, since sections of the coastline were lifted up by the quake between 1.5 and 6 meters by the quake. This might be a safe stopping area but looking forwards and backwards we see plenty of places that still aren’t.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Mother Nature’s Tantrum…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

As we had heard from the News and friends, State Highway 1 north of Kaikoura sustained some particularly heavy damage in the November 2016 earthquake.

Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale and lasting two minutes, it’s easy to see why there were some twenty-one large land slips.

We travel in one “no stopping” zone after another and with kilometres of plastic, concrete and shipping containers between us and Mother Nature’s tantrum damage.

We still count ourselves lucky to be able to travel this “short” route to Piton, since this road only reopened five days before our journey.

After more than a year of closure to get it to this point, we are delighted that this coincidence turns in our favour.

Our journey should take some 5-6 hours rather than the 9-12 hours that family and friends told us it took them on the inland route. Of course, the fact that the inland route is on a secondary road is and not a State Highway makes a big difference,  the road also sustained damage after suddenly becoming a truck route, with some sixty trucks a day. This small road wasn’t built for this kind of traffic so it was no surprise that vehicles got through it so slowly. We face one slip after another, New Zealanders learnt after the large Christchurch earthquakes that old shipping containers were extremely versatile, not just in propping up damaged buildings but also in providing strong barriers against rock falls.

I expect that when road workers were on site some of the containers would have been left open, enabling work crews to get inside for safety should another big quake strike. We travel slowly but surely, especially trying to find Ohau Point… but in vain, the landscape is so changed we could not find the spot where we had watched seals so many times. Then around a corner we spot a sign: “Safe Stopping Area”. It’s time to get some fresh air and stretch our legs.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Searching For A Seal Sanctuary In A Coastline Devastated…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Leaving Kaikoura behind, Family Kiwidutch start the next section of our journey: Kaikoura to Blenheim and from there, Picton.

Damage on the northern side of Kaikoura is said to be even worse in places than the stretch we have already encountered to the south so we are really wondering what we will find ahead.

Like before we are pleased with traffic, it’s slower than usual with all the road works but that’s understandable.

Some sections are again down to one lane traffic so we take our turn, but all in all we are moving at a reasonably steady pace.

It’s difficult to take photographs in the worst places because “no stopping’ zones that are kilometres long have been instituted all along the route for safety reasons.

I take what I can get. The one point we are all worried about is Ohau Point, the place where the stream and route up to the baby seal nursery is. Everyone is wondering what as become of it now? Do the baby seals still have somewhere to go?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All of the bridges along the route also needed repairs…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Next photograph: note the vehicle on the side of the road ahead…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

… the vehicle we saw I the distance earlier,  were pulling what I thought looked like paperwork out of the car…engineers maybe?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Burying Our Memories…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’m spending some time detailing the “new” road between Christchurch and Kaikoura and how it looks one year after a massive earthquake.
Wikipedia tells me:

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 (11:02 on 13 November UTC).

Ruptures occurred on multiple fault lines and the earthquake has been described as the “most complex earthquake ever studied”.

The earthquake started at about 15 kilometres (9 miles) north-east of Culverden and 60 kilometres (37 miles) south-west of the tourist town of Kaikoura at a depth of approximately 15 kilometres (9 miles).

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.

The large magnitude of the quake is second to only one New Zealand Earthquake since European settlement of the country.

Over $900 million in insurance claims were received. There were two deaths, in Kaikoura and Mount Lyford.
A complex sequence of ruptures with a combined magnitude of 7.8 started at 00:02:56 NZDT on 14 November 2016 and lasted approximately two minutes.

This one of those earthquakes that will be remembered for centuries to come, every person who knew this road as it was before the quake, will, like me have a strange feeling. Many will have thoughts but not say them out loud. Other will be sad that nothing can stay the same. I think that if you try to put this into words, that strange feeling is a sort of apprehension and that Mother Nature is an force to be reckoned with. She can not just mess up State Highway 1, but also try to bury our memories under her landslips.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)[/

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Kaikoura_earthquake
Wikipedia / Kaikoura Earthquake / November 2016 / South Island / New Zealand

Landslip Debris And Repairs…

The road to Kaikoura looks rather different after the November 11th 2016 earthquake. Road works everywhere cleaning up debris and repairing damage. After just over a full year of closure State Highway One between Christchurch and Picton is finally open. Like the work, this blog continues…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Just How Much Of The Past Has Been Erased?

In this part of their New Zealand holiday Family Kiwidutch are heading north from Christchurch to Kaikoura and then on to Picton where we will take the interisland ferry to the North Island. I’ve photographed this journey twice before but this time I’m nervous because the closer we get towards Kaikoura region, the closer we get to the worst hit areas of the earthquake of 11th November 2016. As a family we have favourite spots where we have stopped to watch seals, collect shells, take photographs. For myself, in the days before I went to the Netherlands I drove this road reasonably often and have memories of each trip. I wonder that will be recognisable and what not. As we travel northward I wonder in general just how much of the past has been erased.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The sign reads “Welcome to the official shopping in togs season” (“togs” is the New Zealand term for “swimming costume”) “4square” is a national chain of (mostly rural) supermarkets.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

First sign of land slips…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

This will be explained in detail later on…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Road crews have plenty of work…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Note the inside curve of the road, large stones inside wire cages are being used to reinforce the road. During the next quake the stones should provide flexibility of movement,  and the cages, support that the stones stay in one place. The barrier is new…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The next sign is probably due to all the loose gravel…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The sun was glaring off the windscreen, note the land slip on the road… I’m supposing that’s why the barrier was new on the other side of the road.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The coast appears.. more road works…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The railway line wasn’t up there before.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Having Issues With Over Exposure…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Family Kiwidutch have left the InterIslander ferry at Picton and are heading south.

About half an hour later we arrive in Blenheim, a small town that has grown exponentially after the area was found to be ideal for growing grapes some decades ago.

It is now the hub of a well established wine industry and more and more paddocks have seen transition from sheep farming to the cultivation of vineyards.

As I mentioned in a recent post, this road is partly closed at present due to the Kaikoura end of it suffering multiple large landslips in the November 2016 earthquakes, these photographs having been taken back in 2013.

I also mentioned that I had been unwell whilst in Wellington.

Before I realised that I was running a fever, we popped out to visit one of my cousins and I dropped my camera on the grass as I was getting out of the car.

Little did I know, I picked it up and it appeared to work fine so I didn’t think too much of it (just “Phew, Thank Goodness it’s working“) but it became apparent later that there was some stiffness in the lens when trying to zoom in and out.

Later, looking at the photographs I took, it appears that at some focal points something is going wrong with the aperture or lens.. or at least… something. I still wasn’t completely well so I didn’t see this until far later, but it’s why many of the photographs appear to have some issues with over exposure.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)