When we awoke in the morning, Sonny was complaining of a terrible headache, so I helped him to take some painkillers then slipped out with the dogs so her could rest quietly. We headed to the river mouth and the beach. It was a quiet and grey morning. No one else stirred as I sat on a huge driftwood log and watched as the dogs ran about. The only sound was the roaring beat of the west coast waves. It was very peaceful. When the first rays of golden started to pierce over the mountains, I headed back to check on Sonny. He was feeling better so I left him the dogs and went to make coffee and pay for our campsite. Once finished, we packed up and headed out.
We were driving north along the coast to see the limestone arches at Oparara. As cave junkies, this particular stop has been on our wish lists for a very long time. The drive there was also very beautiful, with green bush-coated mountains on one side and flotsam-coated beaches on the other.
As we wove in and out of coves, over and around mountains, past verdant rainforests and through quaint little beach holds, we both spoke our desire to have left a month earlier so we could have so much more time to go slow on South Island. There were so many neat looking places and enticing walks that we had to pass by in order to meet our goals. When we left, being homeless for a month scared me. Now I was wishing we had done it sooner!
Eventually we reached the turn off for Oparara. I had read some dire reviews of the 13 km gravel road in, but was releaved when Fawkes handled the steep hills with ease.
When we arrived, we were surprised to see several cars in the parking lot. It felt like we were so far from anywhere! Multiple groups were enjoying picnic lunches as we selected a shady spot. We inspected the track and realised it was a wide even gravel path. As such, we decided to do the walk in sandals rather than full on hiking gear. This would end up garnering us some looks from several people who were dressed like professional hikers, but we never had a problem. The walk wound along through dense west coast rainforest following a tannic stream. The contrast of the rich dark waters and the bright limestone rocks was pleasing to the eye.
We went to Oparara Arch first. It is very big - 200 m long and 37 m high. The sheer size is breathtaking, but unfortunately doesn't translate well to photographs. The arch was dripping water all along its length, which made for an interesting experience. Even better, we were completely alone for the entire time we were there.
We retraced our steps back to the parking lot, stopped to check on dogs, then set out on the Moria Gate to Mirror Tairn loop. The bush on this walk was even more magical, almost a fractal forest with every tree covered in a blanket of various moss and lichens.
Moria Gate very awesome, in the true meaning of the word. You enter by climbing down into a hole in the ground which opens into a cave, then climb down a subterranean sandy riverbank to see the beautiful rainforest framed in a perfect arch.
We also explored small side cave and found ribbon stalactites.
On the way out, we had a moment of goofiness and took "National Geographic" caving photos.
Once we heard the sounds of other people, we continued on our loop journey. We snapped a nice shot from the outside, looking back at the cave then walked to the Mirror Tairn, snapped a quick photo, then returned to Fawkes.
We returned to the coast then turned and finally began heading south. We were intending to get past Greymouth, but were both very tired. Instead, we ended up staying at holiday park two nights in a row! However, it was a very nice park with wonderful steady hot showers. (Road trip tip #2: Sometimes it's worth the extra money for guaranteed level of quality. It's amazing how many different types of sub-standard showers there are.)
We got a nice spot near the facilities but not near anyone else. I cooked a delicious dinner. Sonny met some Malaysians in the kitchen while doing dishes and enjoyed chatting with them. We fell asleep contentedly until some asshole backpackers came at midnight and yelled and slammed doors. I just cannot figure people like that.
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