Oparara: new walking track built by local Kiwi spirit
Kiwi grit and determination, and a hefty chunk of local pride are behind New Zealand’s newest outdoor experience - a new walking network in the Kahurangi National Park, in the northwest South Island.
Six years and millions of dollars of work by a small group of volunteers has been poured into 31km track network in the secluded Oparara Valley, near the remote West Coast town of Karamea (pop: 680).
The new walkways open access to hundreds of hectares of virgin forest and a series of spectacular limestone caves, home to some of New Zealand’s unique fauna and flora.
Undisturbed isolation
Tucked away in a corner of Kahurangi National Park, the Oparara Valley - a part of the West Coast which escaped the logging and gold dredging booms of the last two centuries - has lain virtually undisturbed for the past million years.
The broad river valley is covered in towering rainforest criss-crossed by the Oparara River, and a series of bush-fringed streams. Three limestone arches over the river and a complex 15km cave system below ground help make this an area of national and international significance.
Wildlife and fossils
The Oparara caves are renowned for the discovery of the largest collection of subfossil bird bones found in New Zealand.
Over 50 species - dating from 20,000 years ago, many now extinct - have been discovered including moa, giant New Zealand eagle, giant flightless goose and rare native birds such as takahe and kakapo.
Local wildlife includes New Zealand’s largest spider, rare lesser short-tailed bat, and large carnivorous land snail.
Bird species living in the Oparara Valley include great spotted kiwi, rare blue duck, kaka, New Zealand falcon, kea, weka, pigeon, robin, fantail, parakeet, paradise duck, and tomtit. It is thought that the kokako may still be present in the area.
The possibility of creating a mainland conservation island to protect plant and animal life in the area is under consideration.
Oparara Valley Project Trust
The seven-member Oparara Valley Project Trust, who designed and funded the project in collaboration with the Department of Conservation (DOC), upgraded 4km of existing track, built another 12km and opened 15km of former logging tracks for walking and mountain-biking.
The idea had "been around for 20 - 30 years, and we’ve finally done it," Trust member Dulcie McNabb said.
Creating a world-class attraction brought many challenges, including mud and mosquitoes, and Karamea's isolation. To lay the track, 6500 tonnes of gravel and more than 60,000 slates had to be flown in by helicopter.
According to track worker Dave Guppie, the task was huge. "And what makes it huge is the people - just a handful of ordinary people."
Green renaissance
British celebrity conservationist and project patron Sir David Bellamy, who officially opened the track in late 2008, hailed the project as part of a "green renaissance".
"Here we have a small community of people who had a heritage and it wasn't accessible and they have made it accessible by working and saying, ‘This is a very, very special place'," Bellamy said.
"I travel the world a lot, and I find more and more people are fed up and sick and tired of seeing the values our parents and grandparents took for granted disappear.
"They are solving it themselves and I call that the green renaissance," he said.
Tourist attraction
Locals believe the new track will attract more of the region’s million-plus tourists to their part of the West Coast.
The Oparara Trust runs walks and guided eco-tours on the track. To protect the delicate ecological nature, public access to the Honeycomb Hill cave area is restricted to DOC-approved tours.
Trust chairwoman Rosalie Sampson said the tracks offered walking for all fitness levels.
Background: Karamea town
The remote wilderness town of Karamea is close to the Tasman Sea, and near the southern entrance to the famous Heaphy and Wangapeka tracks.
New Zealand’s longest ‘great walk’, the Heaphy is a multi-day 82km hike through the Kahurangi National Park - one of New Zealand’s newest national parks.
The 90-minute drive to Karamea from the town of Westport is among the South Island’s finest. Highlights include spectacular coastal scenery, rainforest-clad hills, little villages with their famed West Coast hospitality, and the impressive Karamea Bluff.
With a mild climate and natural surroundings, Karamea has a relaxed off-the-beaten track feel. Attractions include tramping, caving, birdwatching, botany, geology, hunting, fishing, kayaking, rafting and mountainbiking.
More information:
New Zealand's nine 'great walks'
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Kahurangi National Park
Hiking, Kayaking and Caving are some of the options to explore the Kahurangi National Park.
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