Situated just out of the Blenheim township on State Highway 1 was a very early example of one of the interesting little “cob houses”, made from a mixture of clay, gravel and straw. This was built in the early 1860s and had a rich and varied life. It was rescued and restored by the Marlborough Historical Society in the 1960s. A peek inside revealed the kitchen, bedroom and schoolroom set out as they were many years ago, all protected behind glass partitions.
Our next stop was to view the old trestle bridge over the Awatere River. This dual purpose road/rail bridge has the rail deck mounted on gantry legs over the road bridge below. Just imagine the noise of a locomotive on the tracks overhead while you were quietly motoring across just below the train! The trip across the modern bridge is very bland indeed these days.
Continuing down SHI we stopped off at the Dominion Salt Works at Lake Grassmere. Salt water is pumped into huge shallow ponds covering 700 hectares and is gradually evaporated by wind and sunshine. 70,000 tonnes of salt are harvested by this method each year. The salt is cleaned of impurities, and is bagged and freighted all around the country.
Kaikoura is famous for seafood and crayfish and one of our group splashed out and purchased one of these tasty crustaceans for dinner. We would have quite liked to also participate but are too expensive for us. A group of Pied Shags and Gulls were waiting hopefully for some leftovers on the beach.
A trip up to the Lookout gave us wonderful views over the Kaikoura Peninsula and the rugged coastline. We are spending the night at Kaikoura Trotting Club, just across the road from the beach which is located in South Bay.
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