Okains Bay- Jan 4th

For my first morning at Okains I decided to just take it easy and take the 'low road' along to the remains of the Old Wharf. The waves were crashing in a little, so you could easily see why the track/cliffs were being eroded away.

 There was lots of evidence of the volcanic origin of this area, with many rock outcrops that seemed to have once been lava outflows, as well as these much softer red rocks that were perhaps originally more ash-like.

 You can see the remains of the Old Wharf in the distance. I didn't quite go all the way: the seas were a bit high and the track a bit narrow while I walked on my own.

 Later that morning, since the tide was low, I opted for a walk up the river estuary, a popular place for parents with young children. You can see it is quite overcast by now... a promise of even more cloud to come.

This white-faced heron was one of the birds feeding in the mud of the estuary.

 Following the estuary upstream for several kilometres, I eventually came to the village. Here you can see sheep grazing quite close to the local cemetery.

 The village garage had an array of interesting signs, but was 'out of petrol'.

Last time I was here, I visited inside the village church, but that wasn't an option this time. Even though Okains Bay is quite a distance from the Darfield earthquake epicentre, there was obvious damage to the old stone structure. Like so many historic stone and brick buildings in Canterbury, it has borne the brunt of the shaking.