It was hard leaving Gillespie's beach. I literally had to drag myself away. But, all the signs seemed to say it was time.
The unbelievable streak of good weather seemed to come to an end, and slowly but surely, the small, tight-knit community we had made during that week was dismantling.
I spent the night on an empty beach, in the middle of nowhere, without a soul in sight. A storm came through just before dark and rocked the campervan pretty much all night. I was deep in blankets, but I spent the night fighting the freezing air that seemed to be pouring inside.
Sitting in the massive shelter of my favorite arch, I got caught by a severe rainstorm. With no place to go, I sat and listened to the rain and watched the river level slowly rise.
There's something unbelievably meditative about listening to the pounding rain in a dry, timeless cave, imagining the giant birds who used to flourish there.
"Ancient Rubble"
"Estuary 1001"
After several hours of driving, I ended up at a famous surfing beach named Cobden.
There was no one out, but the waves were big and kind of stormy. I still had Jaws music playing in my head from my previous shark encounter, especially because there was a beach about a mile up that was an active feeding ground for Great Whites.
"Massive Cobden Swells"
"Beautiful Gloom"
It was a lot bigger than it looked out there, and I was basically in survival mode the whole time. I rode about 5 waves before I decided to call it.
Between my newly found anxiety about sharks and being downright scared of the massive, double overhead waves that were marching in, I was exhausted in no time.
"Sculpted Sands"
"Stormy Cove"
After a good night's sleep, I drove even further north. As I was driving up the coast, I saw a small, unmarked turnoff with enough room for about three cars. I couldn't resist...
After clambering down the poorly maintained trail, and then down a sketchy rope ladder that someone had made, I was greeted to an eerily beautiful beach that had the most amazing rock formations just offshore.
"Hidden Gem"
"Hidden Gem 2"
The next day I decided to move on, but it wasn't long before I stopped at a place called "Pancake Rocks", known for its pancaked layers of stone. The massive surf churned ferociously into the small coves.
"Pancakes!"
"The Calm After"
The next morning I decided to make it all the way to Karamea. It was a town that a hippie, English guy I had met highly recommended. I believed him...
Quite literally at the end of the road, I couldn't help but smile as I read the towns welcome sign.
"Lonesome Estuary"
"Karamea Welcome"
I fell in love immediately. The locals couldn't have been nicer, there were virtually no tourists, and it seemed to be an area jam-packed with endless trails and incredible natural beauty.
"Just Another Path"
Everything was smothered in the most saturated of greens. Except for the river, which was the brownest, most acrid looking water I've ever seen.
Being in such an isolated area, I was more than confused, but I soon learned that this area had one of the highest amounts of decomposing leaves in the world.
"Stairs to Neverland"
"Charlie's Chocolate"
Literally piled meters high, the deep brown "dye" of the decomposing leaves seeped into the water supply, and turned the river into something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Once I understood, I began to find it quite beautiful, and started to see the connections of nature's intricate systems.
"Intricacy"
I also became a bit of an addict for photographing waterfalls. In Karamea, they were as numerous as they were beautiful.
Small ones, big ones, it didn't matter. They were each beautiful in their own way. Especially with that incredible, brown water.
"Waterfall from Hades"
"Beautiful Brown"
The beaches were equally photogenic. The reflective estuaries, the wind sculpted sand, the juxtaposed rocks; it seemed that every new stretch of beach had its own little, modest secrets, and without a footprint in sight.
"So Many Flies!"
The only downside was that some areas were absolutely covered in Noseeums that would literally smother you like flies on ____ . I actually had to brush away my lens before every photo.
The secrets of Karamea seemed to keep unravelling. After a long walk, I found myself in an ancient palm grove that bordered the coast. Nestled in the small nook that surrounded a sheltered lagoon, they grew unaffected by New Zealand's notoriously harsh weather.
"Bluffs of Karamea"
"Ancient Palms"
But, by far my favorite thing about Karamea was its famous limestone arches. They were the biggest in the world, and supposedly home to New Zealand's ancient wild birds. Now empty, indigenous Maoris had hunted these birds to extinction.
These arches are the only place in the world where the birds were proven to exist. The Giant Eagle who lived there was the largest eagle that ever existed, and the "Moa" was about twice the height and weight of an ostrich.
"The Door to the Underworld"
"Timeless Arch"
"Browns and Greens"
"A Break in the Storm"
I sat in that limestone arch for an entire day, and ended up staying in Karamea for about a week. A part of me wanted to stay forever.
I thought about it, I really did.
But, I had been in New Zealand for over 4 months. I felt it was time to take my travels somewhere new.
Somewhere completely different. Somewhere I had never been before.
Something had to kill my travel bug before I went home.
"Still Movement"
"A Prison of Ponga"
"Rivers to Nowhere"
Something had to kill my travel bug before I went home.
"Time to Go"
