The day was overcast but still pretty warm. That was the good news, the bad news was that we were in Sand Fly country. Actually more like Sand Fly Hell, they were everywhere. The only way you could tell if you had been bitten was when they started to itch, boy do they itch. The only way to deal with it. Get used to it.
One of the hikes we wanted to do today was Scott's Lookout. It was around a one hour return hike but the only problem was we had to climb.
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| Way to Scott's Lookout |
It was a nice walk and it did give us a nice view of Scott's Beach. It also got our heart rate up pretty good. The walk we did this morning is also the start of one of New Zealand's Great Walks. The Heapy Track is 82 kilometers long and takes 4 days to complete. We didn't have that much time so we thought it best if we didn't do it. HaHa.
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| Mouth of Kohaihai River |
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| Scott's Beach |
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| Swing Bridge of Kohaihai River |
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| Part of the Heapy Track |
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| Our Campsite |
Next on our agenda was the Oparara Arch and the Moria Gate Arch. The two arches were at the end of a very fun road. It was gravel, washboardy, very narrow and very windy. The 16 kilometer trip took 40 minutes. Fortunately we only met one car coming the other way.
Once we got to the car park we had lunch and then started the one hour return hike to the Oparara Arch. We both commented that after the drive we just completed we had better see something spectacular and we did. Not only was the walk nice but the arch was huge as it is 219 meters long, 43 meters high and 79 meters wide.
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| Oparara Arch |
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| Oparara Arch |
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| Oparara Arch |
It was impossible to capture the enormity and spectacle we saw with the camera. The lighting made it difficult for good picture taking as well. We enjoyed the arch for awhile and then headed back to the carpark. The Moria Gate Arch is also a one hour return hike but unfortunately in the opposite direction. This arch was quite a bit smaller but just as nice. We had to climb down into it through a small opening before it opened out.
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| The entrance |
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| Halfway in |
The Arch is 8 meters high, 46 meters long and 28 meters wide which is quite a bit smaller but we both enjoyed it more than the Oparara Arch. We finally had to navigate the climb back out so that we could make the walk back to the car park. I was not looking forward to the drive back down to the main highway.
We didn’t meet anyone on the drive back down so it passed without incident. The decision, once we hit the main road was, do we stop for the night or push it on into Westport. We decided on the latter and hit the road. Westport was 92 kilometers away but the drive took over 2 hours as we had to climb and cross Karamea Bluff. I couldn’t help myself, I had to stop and take pictures.
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| View from Karamea Bluff |
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| View from Karamea Bluff |
That was our last stop. We proceeded directly to the campsite, did not pass go, did not collect our $200, just had a late dinner and relaxed our weary bones.
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