Nearing the campground, you can see what NZ looks like in its raw state. Kahurangi National Park is wilderness perfection.
The Kohaihai River empties into the Tasman here.
Art found a perfect parking place. See the caravan at about 9 o'clock, poised between mountain and water? In this Department of Conservation campsite, you just pull in and park up (as they say here) anywhere.
In the Maori language, Kahurangi means 'treasured possession', a clue to the attractions of New Zealand's second largest national park. Within its boundaries lie some of the oldest rocks, strangest plants and rarest birds in the country.
While much of the park is untracked wilderness, other areas are laced with a network of walking tracks that allow you to explore high plateaux and coastal palm forests. The Heaphy Track is the park’s most famous and accessible treasure, followed by more than 4000 walkers each year. A ‘Great Walk’ by every definition, the track covers 78km of subtropical rainforest, tussock high country, river valley and coast. For hundreds of years the route was used by local Maori tribes on their way to the pounamu (greenstone) resources of the west coast.
We can't wait to get into the green and walk part of the Heaphy Track.
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