The Heaphy and Karamea

As we headed north up the West Coast we kept an eye on the weather forecast to see if there was any chance that the rain might let up. When we got to Westport a window of good weather was being predicted so we decided to do the Heaphy track. The biggest challenge of the Heaphy track is getting from one end to the other before or after doing the hike. Driving takes over six hours and because of the taxi pickup times usually involves an overnight stay somewhere along the drive. Hitchhiking is possible but can take even longer because the ends of the track are in out of the way places. The quickest way from one end of the track to the other is flying, but it does cost a little more than the other options. The opening of good weather was not going to be long enough to drive so we decided to spoil ourselves and fly. We picked Jim, a Cessna pilot, to fly with because it was the cheapest option.

After making all the arrangements and picking up supplies in Westport, we drove up to Karamea to get packed and look around before our hike. Karamea has a number of interesting limestone formations nearby including arches over rivers and a variety of caves. We only had time to visit the arches over the Oparara River before getting organized for the hike.

In the morning we met Jim at the Karamea Aerodrome and took off for the northeast end of the track. Jim has been flying for quite a few years and knows the area quite well so he was able to show us some highlights of the track as we were flying over. We made a bouncy landing in a farmer’s field and were greeted by Jeff, Jim’s contact on the ground, who had a pipe hanging out of the corner of his mouth and drove us the five minutes past his place to the start of the Heaphy track grumbling the whole way about tourists and how busy it was becoming “out this way.” It was well worth the cost of the flight just to meet those two characters.

The shuttle bringing the masses to the beginning of the track arrives later in the day so we were alone on the start of the trail. The first day of the track is done through the forest, up a constant but gradual incline with very few views of the surrounding country. It may not sound that appealing, but we found the variety of bird and plant life along the way very entertaining. The few views that we did get along the way just whet our appetite for more and when we got to the Perry Saddle Hut, the views from their made the whole day worth it. It was a clear day so we decided to do the side trip from the Perry Saddle Hut up Mt. Perry. It is an unmaintained track which involves some scrambling over loose rock, but from the top (on a clear day) you can see Farewell Spit and Mt. Taranaki. There was a little too much haze for us to see Mt. Taranaki, but we did get our first look at Farewell Spit.

On the second day we walked from Perry Saddle through the Gouland and Mackay Downs to the James Mackay Hut. The downs are relatively flat areas covered in golden grass and shrubs. They look like they would be the perfect place for animals to graze, however when we stepped off the track and onto the swampy ground we quickly realized that it is no place for a farm. The Gouland Downs is the larger of the two and has a number of streams and rivers running through it which support an incredibly diverse ecosystem. On our way through the downs we saw the shells of giant snails, an incredibly large earthworm, a kea and a pair of blue ducks. The blue ducks were the highlight as they are an endangered species with a very limited habitat range.

Our third day of hiking involved descending from the James Mackay Hut to the Heaphy River and then along the river to the Heaphy Hut at its mouth. The journey down through the forest was similar to the first day although several of the tree species and birds that we saw were different. Our first encounter with the Heaphy River was crossing it on an 80 meter swing bridge. From there we walked along the river through the Nikau Palms, crossing several more swing bridges and stopping only briefly to eat lunch and be eaten by sandflies before reaching the Tasman Sea and the Heaphy Hut. The sun was shining through the palm trees onto the golden sand of the beach and the ocean was a sparkling blue. It looked down right tropical so we jumped in the river and were quickly reminded that a river mouth on the West Coast of the South Island is far from it. There was a beautiful sunset and as long as we avoided the water it was possible to imagine that we were in a tropical paradise.

Our last day was spent walking through the palm trees in the sun. The rocky beaches and waves that crashed with incredible ferocity were the only reminders that we were not in Hawaii. It was easy going and our shortest day of hiking, but it also felt like the most spectacular. We felt a sense of accomplishment tinged with sadness when we reached the parking lot at the end of the trail and caught the shuttle back to Karamea. That was quickly overwhelmed with sleepiness when we found a bed to fall into.

The next day we took a tour of the Honeycomb Hill caves just north of Karamea. They have restricted access because there are over 71km of caves that are full of Moa bones and incredible limestone formations that should not be touched. Our guide was a biologist who has been around the world working on different projects and he was full of wonderful information about the cave and its surrounding area. The only disappointment was that all of the Hast Eagle bones and most of the impressive Moa bones have been removed from the cave and taken to museums for study. After the tour we drove through the Buller Gorge to Nelson for a few days of rest.