Highly Recommended new tour in the area: 'Exposed'

With the earthquakes in Christchurch there has been heightened interest in the Alpine Fault, which is the biggest and baddest fault in the country. It is actually the boundary between the Pacific and Australasian tectonic plates and part of the Pacific ring of fire that takes in seismically active places like Japan, Peru and California. The Alpine fault runs along the western side of the Southern Alps, coming ashore near Milford Sound and running north towards the middle of the south island where it branches and veers across toward Kaikoura. In early 2011 scientists drilled a couple of bore holes down through the fault to collect rock samples and install monitoring instruments. They chose Gaunt Creek south of Whataroa as this site provided good access for the drilling rig. 

Subsequent to this drilling, a local family started running tours to the site where you can stand with one foot on each tectonic plate. The boundary itself is identified by a column or wall of strange green rock, called appropriately cataclismite, which is produced deep in the fault by the pressure and heat generated in the fault.

We found this to be a unique and fascinating activity.