Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
nects Blenheim with Wellington and Paraparaumu.
BICYCLE
Avantiplus
( 03-578 0433;
www.bikemarlborough.co.nz
;
61 Queen St; hire per half-/full day
from $25/40)
Rents bikes; longer hire and delivery by arrangement.
BUS
Picton (30 minutes) and Nelson (1¾ hours). Buses also head down south to Christchurch
of the same services, and on its own buses on major routes.
Shuttles (and tours) around Blenheim and the wider Marlborough region are offered
by
Blenheim Shuttles
(
03-577 5277, 0800 577 527;
www.blenheimshuttles.co.nz
)
.
TAXI
Four-wheeled rescue is offered by
Marlborough Taxis
(
03-577 5511)
.
TRAIN
Coastal Pacific
service, stopping at Blenheim en route to Picton (from $29; runs October
to May) heading north, and Christchurch (from $79) via Kaikoura (from $49) heading
south.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Kaikoura
POP 3550
Take SH1 132km southeast from Blenheim (or 183km north from Christchurch) and
you'll encounter Kaikoura, a pretty peninsula town backed by the snowcapped Seaward
Kaikoura Range. Few places in the world are home to such a variety of easily spottable
wildlife: whales, dolphins, NZ fur seals, penguins, shearwaters, petrels and wandering al-
batross all live in the area or pass by.
Marine animals are abundant due to ocean-current and continental-shelf conditions:
the seabed gradually slopes away from the land before plunging to more than 800m
where the southerly current hits the continental shelf. This creates an upwelling of nutri-
ents from the ocean floor into the feeding zone.
