If you drive far enough north along the remote west coast of
New Zealand the road eventually ends in an anti-climatic parking lot. This is the trailhead for one of the ends of
the Heaphy Track. Luckily we had parked
our van here before the hike and caught a bus to the other end of the
trail. We decided to spend a few days
exploring the area surrounding the tiny town of Karamea, which sits just a few
miles from the end of the road. Thanks
to a guidebook called New Zealand Frenzy
we found some beautiful and less touristy places to explore. This book is now called our New Zealand
bible.
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| The giant tunnel of Oparara Arch. |
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| Oparara Arch |
Caves were the name of the game for most of the exploring
around Karamea. There are a number of
caves with glowworms inside. If you
don’t want to pay to go on a guided tour to see these critters then this is the
place to go. Headlamps are a must for
getting through these smaller caves.
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| Glow worms in the Tunnel Cave along the Fenian Caves loop. |
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| Moria Gate Arch. |
There is also a host of giant caves and arches, which I would argue are actually natural bridges, to explore.
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| Looking out the Moria Gate Arch. |
Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteAwesome photos ! I was at Oparara in March 2012 and left my own rock pile at the other site of the arch. I was curious to see if it was still standing. But I think, by the look of your third photo that all rock piles were washed away at some point (mine had a heart-shaped stone on top).
Have fun !