After a good night’s sleep listening to the waves and the birds screeching in the bush behind our cabin we set off to explore Oparara Basin near Karamea. Just after leaving the car park the track crossed the Oparara River and got our first glimpse of the tea-coloured water. The high rainfall in this area, almost six metres (20 feet) a year, accelerates the leaching of tannin from the decomposing leaves on the forest floor resulting in the beautifully clear but very brown water.
Leaving the river behind, the track quickly took us into the dense forest. The forests on the West Coast are always fascinating as they are so lush and green and it feels as if every surface is covered in a different plant, moss or lichen.
After a short walk through the forest on a very easy track, we arrived at our first destination, Mirror Tarn. The Oparara Basin is known for the brown river and limestone arches and caves, but as we came to a clearing in the forest we were surprised by the sight of the tarn.
In the early morning light, Mirror Tarn certainly lived up to its name. The green foliage was perfectly reflected in the water creating quite a mesmerising scene as your brain tried to make sense of the patterns and distinguish the shoreline where the forest started and the reflections began.
After enjoying the view at the tarn, we continued along the track to our next destination, Moria Gate Arch. We took the little spur off of the track to the marked lookout and as we stepped out of the forest into the clearing we had a perfect view of the rock arch.
The infamously wet West Coast weather gave us a reprieve and the sun broke through the clouds just in time to highlight the arch and the brown water. The track continued over the top of the arch and taking another short spur we lowered ourselves down into a cave with the help of a heavy chain set into the rocks.
The cave led under Moria Gate Arch and we picked our way over the rocks to the sandy beach at the waters edge. As our eyes became accustomed to the low light we could see that the rock at the edges of the cave appeared to be almost carved from the erosion.
The high levels of tannin in the water means that it is more acidic causing the significant erosion to the limestone in this area.
We spent a while exploring the cave and enjoying the changing light before continuing back to the main track to complete the loop back to the car park to pick up the track for our next adventure.