Karamea to Kohaihai; Heaphy Track Day 5 - Kohaihai Campsite to Heaphy Hut

As we had yet to pack our backpacks, we got up shortly after 6am.  It didn't take too long to organize our packs as we were only hiking for two days and didn't need much food. The start of the Heaphy Track at this end was only a 14 km drive from where we were staying and we started walking just after 9am.  There was no rain in the forecast and the weather was indeed fine, with a temperature in the low twenties and cloud.

The track from Kohaihai campsite to the Heaphy hut totals about 16.5 kms.  Even though it is less than any of the other days on the Heaphy Track, there are more and steeper up and down sections than on the other days, be it that they are fairly short up and down sections.  The trail is well above the high water line, often in the trees, but even so there are warnings in places that under extreme conditions waves may come over the (lower parts of the) path.  Luckily conditions were not extreme.  The coastal area there is known for the nikau palm, the only native New Zealand palm tree, and they are abundant along the track and coast.  We ran into a New Zealand lady who was just on a morning walk on the first part of the trail, and when Don asked whether this palm tree had coconuts she told us  story about how the tree got its name.  According to the story "Ni" means "without"  and "kau" means "nut" (i.e. coconut).   

We reached the hut at around 2:30pm.  It's another 28-bunk hut, 10 years old and - luckily - with the toilets right outside the hut a few short steps over the (partially) covered deck away.  There were two couples camping at the campsite but no one else was staying in the hut.  As we were early we went for a walk and continued on the track without our packs - as recommended by the same tour guide - to get an impression of what the trail is like.  It led through more forest, with - as described by the ranger we met going the other way - prehistoric trees.  The trees are very gnarly and can be quite large and are called rata trees. There are also interesting limestone formations along sections of the trail.  We went just over four kilometers down the trail, up to the Gunner River bridge which was also damaged in the major weather event last year but was salvaged.  While on the trail we again tried to get some decent video or a picture of the very fluttery fantail (bird), without much success.  After we got back to the hut we walked down to the Heaphy River and to where it flows into the Tasman Sea.  

Don made the salad and cooked the steak and veggies we were going to have the day before and we had a lovely meal in the hut before retreating to our bunks. 

Mouth of the Heaphy River

LINK TO VIDEOS: 

Heaphy River Mouth, Heaphy Hut

Tasman Sea, Heaphy River Mouth

Mouth of the Heaphy River

Murchison to Karamea

The tour guide we met in James Mackay hut had mentioned that after completing the Heaphy Track their party always stayed at The Last Resort in Karamea, the small town closest to the ocean end of the Heaphy Track.  So after the drive from Murchison to Karamea, we decided to check it out as they had different types of accommodation including basic cabins with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities for NZ$90 (about Cdn$81). The owner convinced us to upgrade to a newer studio with bathroom and kitchenette which she offered to us for NZ$120 instead of the usual NZ$130 and we decided to go for it. (After all we had saved ourselves NZ$35 the night before by tenting instead of staying in a cabin.) 

After checking in, lunch and some catching up on communication, sorting pictures and such, we headed out to the nearby Oparara Valley, a little north of Karamea and then 15 kms down a narrow, windy, hilly gravel road with, of course, several one-lane bridges. The same tour guide had mentioned there were some large limestone arches that were worth seeing. At the end of the gravel road there was a nice DOC trailhead/ parking area with information about the ancient history of the region which was a seabed many, many years ago. We walked the loop trail to the Moria arch and after that the in and out trail to the Oparara arch. The Moria arch is accessed through a cave, with the arch spanning a stream and was definitely worth seeing. The Oparara arch was something else. It’s so massive no picture can properly capture it. It also spans a stream but this arch(way) is 200 m long, 49 m wide and 37 m high; incredible!

Instead of cooking our steak and veggies tonight, we decided to eat out at The Last Resort.  We sat down in the pub area (rather than the dining room), asked the couple beside us what they were having and ordered the same.  It was that night's special, whitebait patties, chips and salad, and apparently whitebait - a type of fish - is a (South Island) West Coast specialty so why not have that.  It was good, and the dessert we ended up having after that was really good as well.

Pedestrian swingbridge crossing the Buller River

Hawks Crag: Highway 6 goes through a cut out in solid rock

Cave to get to the Moria arch

Moria arch

Exiting the Moria arch area through the cave

Oparara arch(way)

The highest part of what we think is the actual arch at the entrance of the cave/archway

The whitebait patties and chips

Cheesecake (very light; more European style) with berry compote, icecream and whipped cream: delicious!