Looking Down (#7 in series: Kaikoura “4” – a short, speedy journey)

 

If one were to stand atop the summit of Manakau – the Seaward Kaikoura Range’s highest peak – one would be 2,608 metres above the Pacific Ocean.

In a straight line, that Ocean’s shore would be just 12 kilometres away.

Rivers that rush down steep mountains and then meander across a coastal plain, do not flow in straight lines, but the Kaikoura’s rivers are all very short.

If I have correctly identified the pictured one, it is very steep indeed –  descending 1,900 metres in just 26 kilometres!

(Australia’s longest river – the Murray – descends 1430 metres, over more than 2,500 kilometres)

I think my photo of 14.07.2010 looks down the valley of the Kowhai River, which begins its brisk journey to the Pacific on Manakau’s ocean-facing slopes.