Don drives us over the Karamea Bluff, a typical NZ road over a range of hills. Steep & windy. Enroute to Karamea, we see a police car, lights on by the side of the road. A tractor had caught fire and was completely burned out. We hoped that the farmer was ok. It is a hard enough life on the West Coast without the loss of a major piece of farming equipment. We stayed at the Karamea Village Hotel – the last hotel on the road or the first if you are walking the Heaphy Track. It is has been serving the community for over a hundred years. We really enjoyed our stay there – especially our Whitebait fritters for dinner after our day of walking! https://karameahotel.co.nz/

You can’t drive campervans into the Oparara Basin but we did manage to find a company that will hire you a 4WD for the day, which is what we did. http://www.karameaexpress.co.nz/ Thanks so much to the team there. Without the chance to hire, we would have missed out on a wonderful days walking. We took the Moria Gate Arch/Mirror Tarn Loop walk. It is nothing short of breath taking! Gorgeous bush, hidden entrance, sandy beach, coca-cola river running through it, rare ducks, eels, fantails, tuis. Just everything you’d want a walk to be. The rest of the loop walk takes you to the Mirror Tarn, a lake that is so still, it creates a mirror effect. It is here that we see the Fantail who, just like the others we’ve seen, doesn’t sit still long enough for it’s photo to be taken! From here, we walked to the Oparara Arch. It is the largest natural rock arch in the Southern Hemisphere. Measurements say it is: 219m long, up to 79m wide, and 43m high. You certainly feel very small once you go in. The coca-cola river that runs through it is this colour as the result of the tannins caused by the surrounding bush. This area, the Oparara Basin is formed from a bed of 350 million year old Karamea granite overlaid by a narrow belt of limestone, with a layer of blue-grey mudstone (or papa) on top. There are also several caves in the area, we went into one – Box Canyon – which was huge. We walked in as far as you could go without being a caving expert and then turned our torches off. Total darkness. Not one hint of light at all. At one point, there are some paved slabs with the imprint of the Giant Moa that used to roam New Zealand. Imagine giant weka or kiwi and you’ll have an idea.

After our visit to the Oparara Basin, we drive a short way up the road to the start of the Heaphy Track. This is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks and goes from here all the way to Motueka. According to DoC, this walk takes between 4 – 6 days. We are NOT doing that but we do walk the Nikau Palm Walk which starts on the Heaphy Track next to the Kōhaihai River, and passes through lush rainforest & groves of nikau palms. At the start of this lovely short walk, you cross a swing bridge – this one was really swinging!

We have absolutely loved our time at the top end of the road on the West Coast. Views, walks, wildlife. And what a great way to end…village market and some bi-planes! Thanks to Lisa for some great fruit buns and Mrs Frog for some amazing Blackcurrant Jam.