 Kaikoura NZ. An eco-tourism triumph. |
The vast South Island of New Zealand hosts a population of barely one million mainly British-descended inhabitants who, in less than two centuries, have transformed the land into a vast luxuriant pasture, delivering some of the world’s best dairy products.
On the rugged eastern shore, nestled snugly in a sheltered cove on its namesake peninsula is the tiny fishing village of Kaikoura (pronounced KIE-koo-ra). The vast South Island of New Zealand is dotted with these little treasures – otherwise inconspicuous spots on a sparse map characterised by varicose mountain ranges and dizzying, snow-dusted fjords.
For countless thousands of years, Kaikoura kept a deep secret – a very deep secret. But now the word is out. Only a few hundred metres off shore, the seabed rapidly plunges into a massive submarine canyon well over a kilometre deep. When warm tropical currents flowing southward crash head-on into the cold Antarctic stream heading north, a swirling mass of nutrient-rich water is sucked up from the depths. This marine smorgasbord attracts an array of aquatic mammals, fish, birds and now, tourists.
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