In the predawn darkness I was shaken from my bed. At first I'd assumed that it was merely the first train of the day passing by Pete's farm, but the rattling was too intense. Luckily I was sleeping in the part of the farmhouse that rested on a cement slab, unlike Andy and the others, who rode the quake atop the pilings that made the foundation in the back part of the house. Andy darted about the house excitedly, admitting that it was his first major earthquake. It measured 5.8 on the Richter scale; even so we all somehow made it back to sleep, except for Pete.
Today would be his first day working at the salt marsh down the road. Before the quake he had some trepidation about starting the new job; he'd not worked for someone else for over 35 years. I couldn't help but wonder if he thought Mother Nature's demonstration a bad omen. I was worried about something different this morning, curious if we'd have to fight the vicious winds of the day before again. Thankfully as we set off down Pete and Joy's gravel driveway the sky was clear and the breeze non-existent. The first part of the day reminded me of the coastal hills of California.
Brown drought-dry grass covered the rolling hills where sheep grazed instead of cows amongst the occasional trees. Soon we rolled down to the coast where the road hugged the craggy coast. Denser greener foliage carpeted the volcano-formed slopes of the snow-capped mountains above us. We stopped to talk to a pair of German cyclists who where decidedly antisocial and went on our way. Stopping only to photograph sea lions nursing their pups and basking in the warm sun on the rocks, we pedaled on to Kaikoura. Our motel in Kaikoura, the aptly named Panorama, gave us a startlingly beautiful view of the bay and the mountains beyond.
Pushing up the sea bottom's limestone formations formed the coastal lands. Squiggly white layers of rock make fantastically intricate seascapes, where we found birds nesting and seals resting during our evening walk. Hiking up the cliff, we walked amongst sheep grazing in the golden sunset and I thought that a sheep's life might not be so bad here. On our way back to the Panorama we stumbled upon a little café that served us a world class meal. There we met Belgium and Iranian couples, shared a bottle of wine and reveled in what a perfect day this had been. What a contrast to the day before!