Mountain ranges in NE South Island, New Zealand; two parallel ranges, the Inland Kaikoura and the Seaward Kaikoura; length 40 km/25 mi, separated by the Clarence R; highest peak, Mt Tapuaenuku (2885 m/9465 ft) in the Inland Kaikoura.
The Kaikoura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Named the Looker-on mountains by Captain James Cook, they take their name from the town of Kaikoura at the southern extreme of the more eastern range, the Seaward Kaikouras.
The long straight river valley of the Clarence River 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, the translation from the Maori of which is the poetic "Footprint of the rainbow".
The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Island.
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