Mussel Point

THE ONLY MUSSELS AROUND HERE ARE LATH'S

17 DECEMBER 2022

There are so many cool shells to find at Mussel Point

Visiting Mussel Point

Our first stop in the South Island after heading across on the Bluebridge Ferry from Wellington, was Blenheim. We were visiting family and wanted to spend a few weeks with them and explore the area.

I love a good Google Map search of a new area and that's how I came across Mussel Point. I was fascinated to learn of the uplifting of the rocks in the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake (more about that later in the blog) and decided that this was a must do while in Marlborough.

The drive along Marfells Beach Road was really pretty and we drove past some salt flats, which from a distance were pink but once you got closer, the pink had disappeared - crazy a! As we passed by campers and caravans, we decided the best place to park was right at the end of the road as this was the closest parking to Mussel Point.

The walk out to Mussel Point takes around 20-minutes, give or take, but we ended up walking along the shoreline and it took us about an hour as there was so much to see and so many rockpools to walk around and jellyfish to step over. The scenic is the best route, right?

The patterns on the sand reminded us of the day we visited Baylys Beach in Northland. The patterns looked extra cool at Marfells Beach due to the buried seaweed leeching through and creating purple markings.

The drive along Marfells Beach Road is really scenic

Our beautiful girl Sienna, ready to explore

Marfells Beach had beautiful patterns in the sand, stretching across the entire beach

The seaweed and algae created purple markings in the sand

The tide had brought in huge piles of seaweed (that you sink in if you stand on)

Mussel Point is a 40-minute drive from Blenheim

The Weird & Wonderful

As you know, we loooove to explore and boy did we find some cool things on Marfells Beach. We lost count of how many jellyfish we saw on the beach! They were all over the sand and some were in the rockpools, but they were dead. Weiiiiird.

We saw red seaweed in some of the rockpools that had an iridescent glow on certain parts of them, we thought this was super cool! Sitting out of the rockpools was some translucent seaweed.

We'd never discovered anything like this before (well, we have seen many jellyfish washed up, like the bluebottles at Opunake Beach in Taranaki) but the seaweed was a rare find for us!

Can anyone tell us the species name of this jellyfish?

This seaweed had an iridescent glow!

The seaweed found on the beach came in many shades

Lath enjoying the views at Marfells Beach

Sienna aaaaaaalways climbs the driftwood at the beach

Some Of The Best Shells In New Zealand

Arabella and Sienna love seashell hunting, especially Arabella and we were in for a treat because Mussel Point gave us the goods!!

We found some really unique shells that we'd never seen before and my favourite was the shell that had the spiky edges. There were some gorgeous paua shells and some really vibrant coloured ones (like the green one shown below). The girls were in heaven finding all these shells and Bella was super excited to add some of them to her ever-expanding shell collection!

There was an area of shells out at the point where it was literally just shells and no rocks or seaweed. Not sure how far down the pile went, but we searched quite far down and didn't hit sand!

The rocks at Marfells Beach were so unique. We found plenty of gemstone veins running through rocks and boulders as well as rocks with lines and markings running through them. The most interesting boulder we saw was one that we initially thought was driftwood as it was so porous but when we got closer and felt it, we realised that indeed it was a boulder!

We found some of the best shells in New Zealand here at Mussel Point

A beautiful paua shell

This shell was so cool!!

Bella is the best shell hunter

We thought this was driftwood but realised it was a rock once we got closer

We found some pretty cool rocks and gemstones at Marfells Beach

The beach is full of unique rocks and boulders

This beach has so much cool stuff to discover

Mussel Point

In 2016, the Kaikoura coastline suffered a huge earthquake that ended up uplifting masses of rocks along the whole coastline - some as high as 2.5 metres! The earthquake was a magnitude 8.7 at 15kms deep and it happened on the 14th November 2016. It is one of the most complex earthquake that anyone has ever studied due to its ruptures and multiple faults.

The rocks were fascinating to look at and for some reason, the whole area just didn't look like a New Zealand beach, so we felt like we were in Italy or somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea - wishful thinking!

The tide was starting to turn once we got to Mussel Point but we could still climb around the rocks and explore the rock pools, which was super clear by the way.

There were a group of shags out on the point that were preening and watching us very closely. They were surrounded by a few mussels shells so we figured when the tide is fully out, that's where all the mussels are!

The track to and from mussel point is beautiful, surrounded by white jagged rocks and vibrant green plants (seasonal dependent!)

There is a huge section of shells out at Mussel Point that's perfect for finding the best shells on the beach

The rock pools at Mussel Point are really clear

Mussel Point is a 20ish minute walk from the Marfells Beach parking lot

The rock pools at Mussel Point are super clear

The area looked like a beach in the Mediterranean

Lath and Sienna coming over to see the shags

Hmmm is it yawning or calling out to its friends?

Cape Campbell

Just around the corner from Marfells Beach is a completely different looking bay that leads on to Cape Campbell. There is a lighthouse right at the end of the point that we wanted to walk to but it would have taken over an hour (at least!) to walk there and we still had Ward Beach to explore that afternoon. We tried to drive out to it one day but it turns out you can't.... so don't listen to Google Maps - they're wrong! The road is through private land, so the only way you can get out to the lighthouse is by walking.

It was a super quiet stretch of beach; in fact the whole area was quiet and there was no one else on the beach - bliss!

View across to Cape Campbell

We wanted to walk to the lighthouse, but it looked like quite the hike!

The seaweed all started to cling to the rocks as the tide came in

These two are best friends

Ward Beach

After our visit to Mussel Point, we headed 25-minutes south to Ward Beach. We had a great time hunting for gemstones (there are plenty!), cool shells and we found some weird and wonderful things (like seal bones!). The beach is so beautiful and has a lot of really unique rock formations.

Click here to read our full blog on Ward Beach.

Boulders at Ward Beach

Know Before You Go

There is plenty of parking at the beach
There are toilets at the beach
The walk out to Mussel Point takes around 15-minutes from the beach (or 1 hour if you're explorers like us!)
Mussel Point and Marfells Beach are best explored at low tide
You can walk all the way around to the lighthouse (looks like it will take around 1 hour + from Mussel Point)
You can drive to the lighthouse at Cape Campbell

Mappy McMap Face

Getting There

Mussel Point is 40-minutes southeast Blenheim and 1 hour and 21-minutes north of Kaikoura.

From Blenheim, head southeast onto State Highway 1 until you reach Marfells Beach Road which will take you to Marfells Beach.
From Kaikoura, head north onto State Highway 1 until you reach Marfells Beach Road which will take you to Marfells Beach.

The closest parking to Mussel Point beach is right at the end of the road - just keep driving till ya can't drive no more. Then walk to the end of Marfells Beach until you reach Mussel Point.

Conclusion

Mussel Point is a fascinating place to see rocks that were uplifted during the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. There are plenty of beautiful shells to be found here and the views are incredible! The coastline is really unique, so it feels like you're in another country. We found so many weird and wonderful things here and we think that Mussel Point and Marfells Beach is one of the coolest beaches to explore in New Zealand.