The Kaikōura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains located in the northeast of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

Description

Formed along New Zealand's

Marlborough Fault System The Marlborough Fault System is a set of four large dextral strike-slip faults and other related structures in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand, which transfer displacement between the mainly transform plate boundary of the Alpine ...

, they can be seen as the northernmost extension of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana in the South Island. Named the ''Looker-on mountains,'' by Captain James Cook, they take their name from the town of

Kaikōura Kaikōura () is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1, 180 km north of Christchurch. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of (as of ). The town is the government ...

at the southern extreme of the more eastern range, the Seaward Kaikōuras. This range rises straight from (and dominates) the coast to the north of the town, and reaches its highest point with the Mount Manakau. The long straight river valley of the

Waiau Toa / Clarence River The Clarence River (; officially Waiau Toa / Clarence River) is a major river which flows through the Kaikōura Ranges in the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. At roughly long, it is the longest river in Canterbury and the eighth longest ...

separate the Seaward Kaikōuras from the longer and loftier Inland Kaikōuras. This latter range contains the highest peak in the ranges, the

Tapuae-o-Uenuku Tapuae-o-Uenuku, formerly Mount Tapuaenuku, is the highest peak in the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. The name translates from Māori as "footprint of the rainbow", though is usually regarded as being named after Chief Tapuaenuku. At ...

, the translation from the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

of which is the poetic "Footprint of the rainbow". Beyond the Inland Kaikōuras is the valley of the

Awatere River The Awatere River is a large river flowing through Marlborough, New Zealand. Flowing along the trace of the active Awatere Fault, it runs northeast through a straight valley to the west of the Inland Kaikoura mountains. This valley is parallel ...

, which runs parallel to that of the Waiau Toa / Clarence. The climate is characterised by a dry cold winter.

Demographics

The statistical area of Kaikōura Ranges includes

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Kaikōura Ranges had a population of 1,689 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 144 people (9.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 270 people (19.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 585 households. There were 894 males and 795 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.12 males per female. The median age was 44.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 315 people (18.7%) aged under 15 years, 246 (14.6%) aged 15 to 29, 870 (51.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 261 (15.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.5% European/Pākehā, 17.1% Māori, 0.7% Pacific peoples, 3.0% Asian, and 2.3% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 12.4%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 51.3% had no religion, 36.6% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.9% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 2.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 186 (13.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 291 (21.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $35,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 834 (60.7%) people were employed full-time, 246 (17.9%) were part-time, and 15 (1.1%) were unemployed.

Flora

These mountains are characterised by tussock land, fellfields, and large areas of open scree, while lowland forests have largely been cleared. The Spencer range to the south meanwhile has a more intact beech forest covering.

Fauna

The ranges contain the

Kowhai Valley and Shearwater Stream Important Bird Area The Kowhai Valley and Shearwater Stream Important Bird Area comprises a disjunct site in the Seaward Kaikōura Range in the north-east of New Zealand’s South Island, some 15 km inland from the coastal town of Kaikōura. The site, at an a ...

.BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Kowhai Valley, Shearwater Stream. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-18.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaikōura Ranges Landforms of the Marlborough Region Kaikōura District Mountain ranges of New Zealand