I call Kaikoura my spiritual home. That sounds a bit over the top, but it’s true. I used to come here as a child on a Kaikoura holiday and explore the rock pools. That’s a long time ago now but it is still very clear in my mind. I knew every part of the shore outside Colin Fox’s bach, and where the good rock pools were that sometimes harboured octopus and large fish.
I came here with my parents and sister and grandma and often with my uncle and cousins on holidays. We would walk around the Kaikoura Peninsula and explore the shoreline. That walk used to be only done at low tide. If you took too long or dawdled, you could be trapped by the high tide. One day when I wasn’t there, my sister and cousins did get trapped by the tide and had to pull themselves up by grass to the top of the hill, to the ridge line.
Tide & Ridge.
It is a fitting name. We spent slow lazy days in Kaikoura and that is what I want others to experience. Taking the time to look at things, from the light changing on the distant mountains to the tiny rocks and paua shells on the beach. Everything here is amazing and part of creation. There is no time to rush and hurry. There should be time to smell the salty air, walk, dream and play in nature.
In summer we have the ocean to swim in – it is cold but it is refreshing and invigorating. Nothing like a cold swim on a Kaikoura holiday.
In winter we have walks and the views of the snowcapped mountains and lovely cafes in town for a hot cappuccino.
We are currently having a house built which I have named Flaxton Heights which will be a four-bedroom home that makes the most of the views and will be solar efficient. The name Flaxton has great meaning to me as well, but that is a whole other story for another journal post.
If you want to learn more about Kaikoura, please visit my website or the Kaikoura New Zealand Official website or if you would like to stay in our accommodation, Flaxton Heights please visit the page on our website.