Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
climbs another low saddle capturing views of Wainui Inlet, before descending to the estuary
and skirting the shore to reach the Wainui car park, 5.5km (about 1½ hours) from Whari-
wharangi Bay.
KAHURANGI NATIONAL PARK
Situated due west of Abel Tasman National Park, Kahurangi - 'blue skies' in one of several
translations - is the second largest of NZ's national parks. Within its 4520 sq km lie the Tas-
man Mountains, a chain of steep and rugged ranges, along with a pair of significant ranges
(Arthur and Matiri) alongside. The park's highest point is Mt Owen (1875m). Its lowest re-
mains unmeasured, deep underground amid the karst crevices that make up the largest
known cave systems in the southern hemisphere.
Five major river systems drain the park: Aorere and Takaka into Golden Bay, Motueka in-
to Tasman Bay, and Karamea and Heaphy into the Tasman Sea.
The best-known walk in Kahurangi is the Heaphy Track, which stretches from the Aorere
Valley, near Collingwood, to the West Coast, north of Karamea; the more challenging
Wangapeka and remote Leslie-Karamea Tracks are less frequented. These walks form just
part of a 650km network of tracks.
History
The legendary moa thrived in the northwest region of the South Island, and were an import-
ant food source for the early Maori who settled here from the 14th century. As was so often
the case, routes through the area were often laid down in the quest for
pounamu
(green-
stone), sourced from the West Coast.
In 1846, Charles Heaphy (a draftsman for the New Zealand Company) and Thomas Brun-
ner became the first Europeans to walk up the West Coast to the Heaphy River. In 1860,
James Mackay and John Clark completed the inland portion of the Heaphy Track while
searching for pastoral land between Buller and Collingwood. A year later gold was dis-
covered at Karamea, inspiring prospectors to struggle over the track in search of riches. The
Wangapeka Valley was also opened up when gold was discovered in the Rolling,
Wangapeka and Sherry Rivers in the late 1850s. Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter is believed to
have been the first person to travel the entire Wangapeka Track when, in 1860, he carried
out a geological exploration of the valley.
