Kaikoura Ranges
Encyclopedia
The Kaikoura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains in the northeast of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Formed along New Zealand's Marlborough Fault System
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 fault and the mainly destructive boundary of the...

, they can be seen as the northernmost extension of the Southern Alps
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...

 in the South Island.

Named the Looker-on mountains, by Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

, they take their name from the town of Kaikoura
Kaikoura
Kaikoura 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.Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard....

 at the southern extreme of the more eastern range, the Seaward Kaikouras. This range rises straight from (and dominates) the coast to the north of the town, and reaches its highest point with the 2610-metre Mount Manakau.

The long straight river valley of the Clarence River
Clarence River, New Zealand
Clarence River is located on South Island of New Zealand. It is 160 kilometres long.For its first 50 kilometres, the river runs in a generally southeastern direction. It then turns northeast, running down a long straight valley between the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges...

 separate the Seaward Kaikouras from the longer and loftier Inland Kaikouras. This latter range contains the highest peak in the ranges, the 2880-metre Tapuae-o-Uenuku
Mount Tapuaenuku
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....

, the translation from the Maori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

 of which is the poetic "Footprint of the rainbow". Beyond the Inland Kaikouras is the valley of the Awatere River
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...

, which runs parallel to that of the Clarence.

The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

.
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