Charming West Coast - Day 20 to 23

Day 20. After the fascinating Heaphy Walk, we continued hiking without much of a break. At 9 am, Yvonne, our guide for the next 5 hours, picked us up for a tour of the privately owned Honeycomb Hill Caves. We reached the caves of Honeycomb Hill after a rocky path and crossing a suspension bridge (already old hat for us :))). Since we were once again in the Kahurangi National Park, we walked through lush green rainforest with moss-covered trees and ferns.

Then we entered the cave with helmets and flashlights! (Our purchased torches were even photographed by other group members, they were so bright and robust :-))) We gained fascinating insights into the underworld of the national park with many stalagmites and stalactites, reflecting water droplets on the ceilings and walls, marble stones, a bouncing cave spider, glow worms, giant snails, and bony remains of long-dead animals. Even a whole Moa skeleton was found there! Very impressive and highly recommended!

After more than 1 1/2 hours, Yvonne took us to the largest stone arch in the southern hemisphere, the Oparara Arch. Very impressive. We were even allowed to go into the forbidden area and enjoy the atmosphere. During this time, Yvonne - Jörg believes - had a smoke... In any case, this was a highly recommended tour with many great impressions!!

Day 21. Unfortunately, we had to leave our beautiful accommodation in Karamea and drive to Westport. The drive along the coast offered some beautiful views of the roaring sea. Yvonne suggested that we hike the Charming Creek Walk, which we did. A good one-hour walk along an old railway track along the Ngakawau River. 100 years ago, coal was transported downhill with horses pulling the mine carts. We saw remnants of the rails and huts, as well as some rusty steel structures along the way :) We passed the Mangatini waterfalls, walked through two dark and cold tunnels, and reached the Watson Mill. A beautiful hiking trail with history!

In the late afternoon, we were warmly greeted by Marla and Mike, chatted for a while, were shown our room, and then we had something to eat at the Bay House :)) We had a great view of Tauranga Bay from the restaurant!!

Day 22. Today, on March 18th, we had planned to go mountain biking on the "old ghost road"... but we decided against it (due to our experiences on the Queen Charlotte Track) and planned two relaxing days instead! After all, it was the halfway point of our vacation! We deserved a bit of relaxation :) So we went to the hiking trail that led to the seal colony at Cape Foulwind. A beautiful path along the rugged rocky coast and then the great viewpoint for the tourists, where you could look at the rocks and seals :)) There were lots of seal pups there! Most of them were sunbathing, but some were also frolicking around. They hopped very funny across the rocks :-D

Afterwards, we went to the mega-cool beach house "out of bay". We booked it last minute, but it had everything we needed and more!! In the evening, we ordered something online from an Indian restaurant in Westport (we couldn't tear ourselves away from the couch), but then noticed that there was only the option for "pick up"... Still cool! And very delicious.

And the relaxing day Day 23 also passed by, playing croquet in the at least 200 square meter garden overlooking the sea in Tauranga Bay :))))