26/02/2018 - (Addendum) Kahurangi National Park - Heaphy Track - Opara Arch

From Westport, you can take a day trip to Karamea and Kahurangi National Park, the northwestern edge of the South Island.

It is about 100 km and takes about 1.5 hours. I didn't originally plan to go so far north on the South Island since you have to drive all the way back. It's a lonely dead-end road! But the trip is worth it.

I had received a tip from some locals to go there. And I did. Strangely enough, I was the only non-camper and non-motorhome driver there. It's a bit too remote for the average traveler. The sparse hotels and B&Bs are very popular and were all fully booked.

Among hikers, which I am not, the park is very popular. The Heaphy Track is said to be one of the most beautiful in all of New Zealand and crosses from one side of the island to the other, which takes about 5 days. Luckily, I didn't have the necessary equipment, so I only followed the track for about 5 km to Scott's Beach and then turned back :-)

The beach was amazing! And I was almost alone.

On the way back to Westport, I decided to visit Opara Basin and the Opara Arch. 14 km on narrow gravel roads into the park and always uphill. At times, I thought my car wouldn't make it.

The Opara Arch is a 45m high rock arch through which a river flows. Very impressive and worth the climb.

Even more fun was the downhill drive on the gravel road. While it took me about 45 minutes to go uphill, it was much quicker going down. It only took me 27 minutes. What a blast. Poor car!

When I reached the road, I had to drive the almost 100 km back to Westport.

Quick guessing game: How many cars do you think I encountered along the 100 km drive? It took me almost 1.5 hours!

There were 35! So much for seclusion. Later, I found out from Kiwis that that is a lot!!!

A very beautiful day with many impressions!