Karamea

Continuing up the coast from glacier territory, we eventually made it into the wild northeast of the south island. We continued past Punakaiki, which I visited during my first week off the ice (I've now been in NZ for a full month! Crazy!) even farther into one of the more remote-feeling parts of NZ.

When we got to the end of the road, we were in the chill, lazy, sunny, hippie town of Karamea. There we planted ourselves for four nights. Why not?

There are a bunch of nice walking trails around town, including one to a big rimu tree.

And when I asked if there are glowworms around here (as I'd seen signs for glowworm tours a bit farther south), one of the hostel managers at Rongo Backpackers fired up the hostel van after dark that evening and took us to the trailhead of Fenian Track. Just 30 meters up the path, we turned off our headlamps and began seeing specks of white-blue light dotting the hillside. So cool! There is actually a glowworm in this picture, though they're so tiny it's difficult to see. A bit of Where's Waldo for you: see the blurry dark blob just above and to the left of the center of the photo? And then one of the sticky glowworm "web" tendrils that hangs down just as far as the upper right curve of that blob? Follow that tendril up, about four little bulb-shaped units. Your eye should run into a pale brown, long, skinny thing that also appears to be kind of ribbed and that runs nearly horizontal across the picture (though points slightly down to the right). Glowworm! I was imagining them as these fat, gooey worms whose entire bodies were phosphorescent. But they're actually tiny, long and skinny, and it's just a single dot of light on their butts that glows.

Another lovely outing from Karamea was a day trip to the Oparara Basin and its pristine temperate rain forests and amazing limestone caves.

On the downside, I came down with a bad head cold at the end of our first day here, and it hung on for the rest of our time in Karamea. So there was a bit less exploring of the area than there would have been otherwise, as SR sweetly hung out with me at the hostel in my pathetic state. Luckily, Rongo Backpackers is a great hostel. Right outside the front door, they have a garden that the owner, Paul, took me into, plucking all sorts of fresh veggies and herbs that he hoped would help me feel better.

By evening, there was entertainment just steps away from the hostel, in its adjacent little movie theatre!

And attached to the movie theatre is Karamea's own radio station, founded by Paul and kept eclectic by travelers who are willing to do a radio show or two while they are in town. In the three days we were here, we got to hear a Jesus-themed show as well as a hippie-themed show. Really, something for everyone in Karamea. A beautiful spot.