Kaikoura... Tonight's Nor-West Sunset...

 This was tonights most spectacular sunset.

The friend I am staying with tells me the clouds

are typical of the swirling nor west winds that

is a weather pattern only experienced on the South

Islands east coast.  Formed from the warm moist air that

comes over the Tasman Sea, drops it's moisture as

rain on the west coast and is responsible for the

temperate rain forest there. The moist air is then

forced up by the Southern Alps and form

there amazing cloud patterns.

 These clouds are coming over the Seaward Kaikoura

Range... One of the very few places in the world

where such high mountains rise directly

out of the sea.

In ten minutes it was all faded and gone.

I just had time to take these photos

while I gazed in awe.

A Most Unusual Sign... At Paturau...

We continued our journey along the gravel road. It must have

had a grader over it recently as it was  in good condition.

This is Paturau... With the most unusual sign...

Read the second line!

There are so many signs all around New Zealand saying...

'No Overnight Stopping' which is ruining the delight

of freedom parking... That to see a sign on private property

saying 'Campers Welcome' amazed me.

The conditions are listed!

We came along this road... Parking and surf straight ahead.

The Paturau River mouth makes a small tidal estuary...

There are big stony hills...

And unusual tree shapes sculpted from the gale force winds that

can happen here.  We were lucky with a perfect sunny

day and not a breath of wind anywhere.

It was about two hours before high tide... People were

swimming and fishing at the mouth.

The river meets the stones and surf of the West Coast.

This is the Tasman Sea... On a calm day... 

All the way to Australia.

We sat on a log and had a picnic lunch.

At low tide there is an expanse of sand which provides 

access to good walks all round the coast line.

This is the large freedom camping area...

There is plenty of room for everyone...

No shelter from the violent winds though.

 Read the weather report for this area here.

 

 An aerial view...

All this land is privately owned farms. Read the 

fascinating history here.

Rental accommodation... It you don't have a tent, bus or

motor home...

 
Or it's the middle of winter. Find information here.

For coffee lovers... The Nugget Cafe at Mangarakau...

It has good coffee... We stopped and tried it!

And a popular meeting place...

Right in the middle of...

Absolutely nowhere...No other buildings in sight.

I left with the resolution to go this way again...

In my bus so I can take my time and stop at lots of 

little  places and explore and walk and fish.

Want to join me?

Rainbows... Sunsets and Clouds...

One thing I really miss while I am staying in Christchurch
is the sunrises and sunsets that I love so much.
I am too much enclosed by close-by houses... I hate being shut inside...
Perhaps that's one of the reasons I choose to live in a house-bus
and my favourite place to be is at the beach with wide open spaces.

But the other day while staying at my Dad's house...
I caught this rainbow. It wasn't raining where I was
but obviously was somewhere.
It was an amazing rainbow stretching across the whole sky...
With a distinct primary bow...
Which is formed by light rays undergoing a single reflection in  raindrops which brighten the sky inside it...
And a secondary bow...
 Rays reflected twice are deviated to form the second bow and brighten the sky outside it.
Raindrops along lines of sight between the two bows
cannot send light to your eye and so the sky is darker there...
Known as the 'Alexander Dark Band'...
First described by Alexander Aphiodisias in 200AD
The colours were delicate but very distinct as you can see.

It had been Nor'west for a short while...
Creating one of the rareties of the skies...
Distinctive Altocumulus clouds forming the
Nor'west or Canterbury Arch.
It's peculiar to the South Island east coast... Warm moist air from over the
Tasman Sea is pushed up by the Southern Alps causing it to cool rapidly
and much of the moisture is dumped on the West Coast.
As the air passes over the Alps the water vapour remaining becomes
visible in a band of cloud over the mountains at the top of each air wave.
To the viewer on the east side this appears as an arch of cloud.
It can be seen from Amberley in the north to Central Otago in the south
but is most prominent over the Canterbury Plains.

The atmosphere is quite oppressive... Heavy dark clouds...
The Nor'west can have a deep psychological effect on many people...
It's linked to increases in suicide and domestic violence...
Caused by a significant build up of positive ions...
This strong electric field
upsets the melatonin/seratonic balance
Another phenomenon of nature - read about it here.

Spectacular...

And what I could see of the sunset through the trees.