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Published: November 30th 2008
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Westport and Karamea
November 29, 2008
We took another look at the Pancake Rocks and were on our way north up the coastline.
While we were there we got our first good look at some Hectors dolphins (smallest species of dolphins) that we have heard so much about.
First stop was the small town of Westport that we feel gets a bum rap in our guidebook. We thought it was a delightful place with friendly people and fun shops and at least one pretty good café. We were going to head inland from there but two gas station attendants convinced us that we should continue north to the town of Karamea (the end of the road) and into Kahurangi National Park. They also suggested that on the way we should take a side trip up a steep mountain to the abandoned coal mining twon of Denniston. We’ve found that the locals usually know what they are talking about, and these guys were right on with their advice.
We didn’t know what to expect at Denniston, and we certainly didn’t expect to be the only people there. It really is abandoned. But there were excellent displays and relics from
this coal mining town that was so isolated because of its mountain location that before the road was built the only way to get to it was by riding in the coal bins on the tracks that went up and down the steep mountain using an intricate cable pulley system.
It was a winding road through the mountains to Karamea…but, oh, what mountains! They are unlike any I’ve ever seen before. They are covered with thick vegetation of dozens of different kinds of plants. The tree ferns are the tallest we’ve seen yet. The forested mountains against the rugged seashore made for quite a drive. Once reaching Karamea we had seven more kilometers of paved road and fifteen of dirt before we reached the trailhead for the short hikes we wanted to take in Kahurangi.
We hiked through the rainforest to a limestone arch covered with hanging moss and ferns that formed a natural bridge over a tannin stained river. The second shorter walk was to two caves. They weren’t great caves (compared to Carlsbad Caverns no cave is) but we enjoyed ourselves because we were the only two people in them and we had to rely on
our own little headlamps and common sense to explore them. Both were small, so it didn’t take much time or common sense.
Back in town we ended the day at a tavern, The Last Resort, that was filled with balloons and streamers to celebrate 25 years in business and is on a list of “25 Great Pubs in New Zealand.” We sat with some nice people who were in town for whitebait fishing. It looked like a good party was beginning, but we left when the band started playing. We’ve had a long day and our caravan park in the trees is a nice one.
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