Karamea – just about the end of the road

After a hair-raising 55km drive which took us around tight corners, up through the misty mountains covered in beautiful native trees, down, down, down the other side, before levelling off to a gentle seaside road, we arrived in Karamea.  As we hadn’t travelled this far north on the western coast of South Island before every km was an adventure on a “road not yet travelled”, and the sealed road does not continue much more past Karamea.

Arriving at Karamea

The plan is to stay here for the next three nights and have a good look around this beautiful part of New Zealand.  “You must stay in the Domain”, we were advised, so that was good enough for us. 

Let’s stay here

We were soon settled on our sites, and plugged into the power.  The rates are reasonable, and although the facilities are a little on the old side, there is everything we need here for a comfortable stay, including a laundry.  And a grand-stand, if we feel like making use of it, looking over the large playing fields.  But…. there is no cell phone coverage or internet here.

Parked up in the Domain Camp

The quirky little village was just a short stroll away and we were stopped in our tracks outside “The Last Resort” accommodation and cafe establishment.  This modern looking complex has turf on all the roofs.  We’re not sure why, but it certainly looks interesting.  Another reason to stop and look was the sign offering WIFI – what a life saver, we’ll certainly take advantage of that, for a modest fee.  Now we won’t have to save our blogs  for three days before we get back into internet range where we can once again use our T-stick.

The Last Resort – growing turf on the roof

There are just a couple of shops in the village, and luckily one of them was a supermarket.  After we bought the necessary items such as milk and bread, plus the half price Easter Eggs which were such a bargain, we really did need that yummy ice-cream each to eat on the walk home.  The branches of a laden feijoa tree hanging over the fence next to the footpath were  also too good to resist, so a few of these ill gotten fruit came home with us as well.   The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in the sun, Robin was busy chatting away with some fellow campers, and Derek tried his hand at fishing in the local river.  No, he wasn’t lucky, although he swears he saw a huge trout in the river which eluded him.  Perhaps next time, and he is under orders to share it with his friends if he does catch it!