Canterbury is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of 44,508 square kilometres (17,185 sq mi), and is home to a population of 649,800.
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 2,420.
Cheviot is a town in the Hurunui District of north Canterbury, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1, approximately 112 kilometres (70 mi) north of Christchurch and 68 kilometres (42 mi) south of Kaikōura.
The Acheron River is a river in the South Island of New Zealand, in Marlborough and flows into the Waiau Toa / Clarence River. It flows southwest and then east for a total of 60 kilometres (37 mi), joining the Waiau Toa / Clarence at the southern end of the Inland Kaikōura mountains. The Alma and Severn Rivers flow into the Acheron before it joins the Waiau Toa / Clarence.
The Clarence River is a major river which flows through the Kaikōura Ranges in the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. At roughly 209 kilometres (130 mi) long, it is the longest river in Canterbury and the eighth longest in New Zealand.
The Kaikōura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains located in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand. The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Island.
The Waiau River is the largest river in the Southland region of New Zealand. 'Waiau' translates to 'River of Swirling Currents'. It is the outflow of Lake Te Anau, flowing from it into Lake Manapouri 10 kilometres (6 mi) to the south, and from there flows south for 70 kilometres (43 mi) before reaching the Foveaux Strait 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of Tuatapere. It also takes water from Lake Monowai.
Waiau is a small town in north Canterbury, in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Hanmer Springs on the northern bank of the Waiau Uwha River, some 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the river's mouth. There is a small supermarket, a DIY store and a petrol station.
The Main North Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk railway, is a railway line that runs north from Christchurch in New Zealand up the east coast of the South Island through Kaikōura and Blenheim to Picton. It is a major link in New Zealand's national rail network and offers a connection with roll-on roll-off ferries from Picton to Wellington. It was also the longest railway construction project in New Zealand's history, with the first stages built in the 1870s and not completed until 1945.
The Dillon River is a river of the Marlborough Region of New Zealand. It arises in the Inland Kaikōura Range near Carters Saddle, and flows south-west for 28 kilometres (17 mi) to join with the upper Waiau Toa / Clarence River 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Hanmer Springs. The river's course lies largely parallel with that of the Acheron River, which lies 8 kilometres (5 mi) to the west. The river was named after Constantine Augustus Dillon, who owned a sheep run near the Omaka River.
The Gloster River is a river in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It arises on the northern slope of Dillon Cone in the Inland Kaikōura Range and flows north, then south-east and east to join the Waiau Toa / Clarence River which eventually exits into the Pacific Ocean.
The Hāpuku River begins in the Seaward Kaikōura Range of New Zealand and flows south-east to enter the South Pacific at Hapuka, between Clarence and Kaikōura. The name comes from the Māori word hāpuku or hāpuka, a deep-water marine fish. Its main tributary is the Puhi Puhi River.
The Kekerengu River is a river of New Zealand's northeastern South Island. It flows mainly through the area of rough hill country immediately to the north of the end of the Seaward Kaikōura Range, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Kekerengu, a small settlement halfway between the township of Ward and the mouth of the Waiau Toa / Clarence River.
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 fault and the mainly destructive boundary of the Kermadec Trench, and together form the boundary between the Australian and Pacific Plates.
The Clarence Fault is an active dextral strike-slip fault in the northeastern part of South Island, New Zealand. It forms part of the Marlborough Fault System, which accommodates the transfer of displacement along the oblique convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and Pacific Plate, from the transform Alpine Fault to the Hikurangi Trench subduction zone.
Manakau is a mountain peak in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. At 2,608 metres, it is the highest peak of the Seaward Kaikoura Range.
The Inland Kaikōura Road, formerly designated State Highway 70, is a provincial highway in the South Island of New Zealand that runs from just south of Kaikōura to just north of Culverden via Waiau and Rotherham. White shields are used to signify this highway. It forms part of the Alpine Pacific Triangle tourist route. It also serves as an alternative inland route in cases where SH 1 is closed near the South Kaikōura Coast. Following the 14 November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, all roads into Kaikōura were closed including SH70; after extensive regrading and clearance the Inland Road was the first road connection to Kaikōura to reopen and was a lifeline for the community.
The 2016 Kaikoura earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 (Mw) earthquake in the South Island of New Zealand that occurred two minutes after midnight on 14 November 2016 NZDT. Ruptures occurred on multiple faults and the earthquake has been described as the "most complex earthquake ever studied".
Oaro is a settlement close to the Pacific Ocean Coast of north Canterbury, in the South Island of New Zealand.
Ward Beach is a section of rugged coastline in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand that is known for unusual rock formations. The geological features include the exposed reef platforms that were uplifted by 2 m or more during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, and the spherical concretions known as the Ward Beach boulders. Another formation known as the Chancet Rocks is located in a scientific reserve about 1.5 km to the north of the Ward Beach roadend. They contain unusual trace fossils and provide amongst the best on-land evidence of the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary in marine sediments in the Southern Hemisphere.
