Hi Leopards. When I watched this video of yours at the time you posted it, we were inspired to visit this area. (We're new to living in CHCH (from Wgtn) and had only been as far as Hokitika and Greymouth previously). So a couple of weeks ago we headed over. Stayed at the Last Resort in Karamea (which we thoroughly recommend for anyone else reading this, especially the restaurant) and had to time it for a weekend stay so we could drive on the Oparara Basin Road. We felt for you driving over that hill into Karamea. It was steep and winding enough for us without towing a caravan. And both drives in and out it was misty for us too. But was well worth it. Although the road into the arches was pretty hairy too. Hate to think what it was like before they've done all the work on it. We went early morning so did not meet anyone coming in the opposite direction heading in. What a truly amazingly natural beauty spot of the country. A real WOW experience. It was a nice surprise to find that the track to the main Oparara arch was reopened, but one of the caves further up the road was closed. Thanks again for all your videos and hope you're inspiring lots of kiwis to check out our beautiful country.🤩🤩
Hey team really grateful for your feedback, it really is a special place if people have the time to get to this area, which is quite far out the way, which probably makes it more special aye... Most of our videos are places we recommend or not lol, but I have plenty of video of places that i didn't feel to inspired to make a video of lol... Cheers for watching and glad you enjoyed the video.
it's an incredible place, crazy that the road just ends, nice that it's tarsealed all the way in now, I imagine that road has seen some incredible engineering feats over the years.
I admire the way you allow your children to explore and "do their thing". They will learn a lot by doing things for themselves. Too mant children nowadays are very restricted because of parents supposedly keeping them safe. If children don't learn to take risks they will never learn to experience the fullness of life. Well done mum and dad.
We've taught our kids a lot about being safe, knowing your limits, and we've been there with them multiple times to watch them do things. All kids need to detach from their parents at times and be kids, one day the big world is theirs to explore, so we are teaching them how to navigate their lives in a safe and healthy way.
We've been really enjoying this coast so far. Looking forward to heading to the deeper southwest, looks stunning, thanks for watching all these episodes tonight. :)
I know right, I had no idea it was a dead end rd until we hit the West Coast, I knew you couldn't get around but didn't know it was 112km dead end road, good old New Zealand aye, continues to surprise us.
Hey i live in westport and work for a main contractor in Buller, McCallums Mill Road (Ōpārara Basin access road) is closed for upgrade work from Monday to Friday until 1 December 2023. The heaphy is said to re open in October, so dust off your tramping boots! Would also pay to remind people about the sandfly repellent. Also brilliant timing with the weather!
I have a fishing drone, buts it's failed me and I can not get the drone and the controller to see each other, rendering it useless... I've tried all the things, but I'm back to walking my line out and hoping I get it to the fish.
Loved it up here, I didn't realise there was all the supplies you need until I see the Petrol tanker heading up lol... a coupe of camp grounds up there as well, as a POP.
Yea, there is lots of exploring to be done, a few things I videod that didn't make it into the video like the Giant rimu, and plenty of other hiking trails. When do you come South John.
Hey guys. Love your vids. Walked the Heaphi track. Remember getting out of the car and getting eaten alive by sandflies by the time we found our Bushmans repellant in the backpack. It was stunning. Loved the isolation. Used to strip off and run and dive into all the beautiful waterholes we came across before the sandflies could get us. ❤
Such a great area, you had a lovely spot at Kōhhaihai. Definitely an area for outdoor adventures. Such a small world in regards to the house you worked on in Karamea
Thats so cool that photo you sent, I should forward it on to the family... The have some cool plans for the house, nice I got to plaster up the 3 bedroooms downstairs. Loved this spot heaps that didn't make it into the video including cockle gathering in the Estuary.
Those social cheeky little weka were a highlight in our travels down there (we’re WBOP). Many tourists asked if they were kiwi. Thanks for taking us to parts we haven’t had a chance to see yet. Hoping your travels can continue for another year+!🤩
Oh thanks so much, we love the Weka, although sometimes they are a bit of a pain, especially when they jump into the caravan or peck at your leg when your on your camping chair lol... This one who followed us had us laughing, didn't know if it would make the whole loop with us... Riley of course loved having the bird follow us. YES bring on more adventures, looking forward to it.
Oh sweet mate, welcome to the channel, pretty cool lifestyle what we are doing, no plans to give it anytime soon, such a chilled life, until you need to go make money again.
Yea man, back on the road today, beautiful sunshine, looking forward to getting the Drone out, looks like there are some awesome beaches where we are going today.
Oh awesome I think there are 3 arches in this area, there is another way that is way bigger and only 1km walk, but it was closed due to a slip. they are pretty impressive though.
Wow nice to the area again. We only did a day trip. Brian was weary of me towing the caravan. Nice to see places I got to. Thank you for the journey guys team Kawerau
@@leopardsgowild I am based in Australia and consider Christchurch home, well to be honest anywhere in the South Island. Your South Island travels have brought back many memories of me with my family when I was a kid. NZ is truly a place of great beauty.
Another fabulous video Mike, brought back so many memories. Aren’t those Nikau trees fabulous? Make you realise we are in the middle of the Pacific 😄 unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Ōpārara Basin Arches, but is still on our list of things to do.. but lists of great biking and walks available in the area 👍
We did the drive to the caves a year ago and it was the most terrifying and exhilarating experience I’ve had. Have they improved the road heaps? I can’t believe how chilled you were about it. Loving going back down memory lane as you are travelling where we went last year. Thank you and again, love the music.
Ha! Couldn't understand why I was getting no internet. My phone had gone flat! Anyway, those nikau ferns looked amazing. You gotta love a friendly weka.
Cheers team, it's so much nicer to be able to edit from the position that is the most comfortable then be wondering if the next time I need to sneeze the Laptop screen is going to blow apart lol... This one is much fast at processing all the video files as well, so I'm pretty stoked. Thanks heaps for the contribution all those 60 people who gave made all the difference.
Yea welcome to winter travels, so many empty places down South. I imagine we will eventually see these places start to fill up again in the next couple of months... Atleast in Sept, the days are getting longer, but the snow is still on the mountains, looking pretty.
I've heard it's not so great in summer, swarms and swarms of Sandflies, apparently they can be so bad that it makes people leave... Winter there were a few about but not to many, and it's also much easier to wear long pants and long sleeves to cover up from them, so it's a great winter location.
yes definitley add it to the list... they say the sandflies are pretty bad in summer, so winter could be an ideal time, pretty quiet on the sandfly count...
yea it was so nice up here, and so warm for winter which was a nice change from some of the areas we have been in, now just waiting for the days to get longer.
Its a long way off the main drag to spend time at, I guess that's why it's so special, and undeveloped. Soph has her heart set on hiking the Heaphy track now. She loves it up there.
Definitely going to head back to Gentle Annies (out of season) and do more exploring of the area. Good to see they have finally built extra facilities.
Yes lots of great new facilities, they are investing a lot in the place currently. They also have jumped into the winter camp saver rate, so only $115 for a powered site per week this winter for 2 adults, lots of great spots to explore from here.
Oh really, we've heard stories of people packing up and leaving because the sandflies were to intense... Winter is always a better time for avoiding bugs, which was part of our travel plans for the West coast in winter... We found the sandflies to be easily managed, a few here and there, but nothing to worry about at all.
oh this is def not one of the few remaining quiet spots there are so many around NZ just have a look at our channel... Also a quick search on TH-cam will show you how many other videos there are show casing this area.
HA HA, thanks for the lovely Emoji... Lets go team... I'm going to be interested if TH-cam picks it up with the Algorithm or if like normal things just float on by...
Hi Leopards. When I watched this video of yours at the time you posted it, we were inspired to visit this area. (We're new to living in CHCH (from Wgtn) and had only been as far as Hokitika and Greymouth previously). So a couple of weeks ago we headed over. Stayed at the Last Resort in Karamea (which we thoroughly recommend for anyone else reading this, especially the restaurant) and had to time it for a weekend stay so we could drive on the Oparara Basin Road. We felt for you driving over that hill into Karamea. It was steep and winding enough for us without towing a caravan. And both drives in and out it was misty for us too. But was well worth it. Although the road into the arches was pretty hairy too. Hate to think what it was like before they've done all the work on it. We went early morning so did not meet anyone coming in the opposite direction heading in. What a truly amazingly natural beauty spot of the country. A real WOW experience. It was a nice surprise to find that the track to the main Oparara arch was reopened, but one of the caves further up the road was closed. Thanks again for all your videos and hope you're inspiring lots of kiwis to check out our beautiful country.🤩🤩
Hey team really grateful for your feedback, it really is a special place if people have the time to get to this area, which is quite far out the way, which probably makes it more special aye... Most of our videos are places we recommend or not lol, but I have plenty of video of places that i didn't feel to inspired to make a video of lol... Cheers for watching and glad you enjoyed the video.
My home town growing up left when I was 17 over 45 years ago still love going back
it's an incredible place, crazy that the road just ends, nice that it's tarsealed all the way in now, I imagine that road has seen some incredible engineering feats over the years.
I admire the way you allow your children to explore and "do their thing". They will learn a lot by doing things for themselves. Too mant children nowadays are very restricted because of parents supposedly keeping them safe. If children don't learn to take risks they will never learn to experience the fullness of life. Well done mum and dad.
We've taught our kids a lot about being safe, knowing your limits, and we've been there with them multiple times to watch them do things. All kids need to detach from their parents at times and be kids, one day the big world is theirs to explore, so we are teaching them how to navigate their lives in a safe and healthy way.
I watch this and I want to go back! How good - the trees, beach, loud waves, birdsong 🤩
West Coast in August, what a stunner! 😎
Yes... What did you think of the Nikau?
We love how you get around the country!! Shows us what’s available giving us inspo!! Great video!
We've been really enjoying this coast so far. Looking forward to heading to the deeper southwest, looks stunning, thanks for watching all these episodes tonight. :)
Amazing country we live in so many places I never knew existed, great video
I know right, I had no idea it was a dead end rd until we hit the West Coast, I knew you couldn't get around but didn't know it was 112km dead end road, good old New Zealand aye, continues to surprise us.
Walked the Heaphy track when I was a young fella and came through Karamea on the way out . Beautiful part of New Zealand
Its beautiful alright, although those Nikau palms are so beautiful. When we were up here, it was so quiet and peaceful, loved it.
Hey i live in westport and work for a main contractor in Buller, McCallums Mill Road (Ōpārara Basin access road) is closed for upgrade work from Monday to Friday until 1 December 2023. The heaphy is said to re open in October, so dust off your tramping boots! Would also pay to remind people about the sandfly repellent. Also brilliant timing with the weather!
HEAPHY track looks awesome, I think the trail was open through to the bridge, I imagine it's a lot busier up this way when the walking trail is open.
Thank you. Enjoyed the video. Watching you surf cast reminded me of a friend who uses a drone to get his line out past the waves.
I have a fishing drone, buts it's failed me and I can not get the drone and the controller to see each other, rendering it useless... I've tried all the things, but I'm back to walking my line out and hoping I get it to the fish.
Absolutely LOVE the west coast!
This was such a great area to explore, it's amazing there is even a settlement there it's so isolated
Wonderful place
What a beautiful place, such awesome weather for winter. Nice to get some work done up there. Good to know there's a decent store and stuff up there.
Loved it up here, I didn't realise there was all the supplies you need until I see the Petrol tanker heading up lol... a coupe of camp grounds up there as well, as a POP.
They were some serious caves. Looked an amazing part of the West Coast, it's on my list too
Yea, there is lots of exploring to be done, a few things I videod that didn't make it into the video like the Giant rimu, and plenty of other hiking trails. When do you come South John.
Beautiful place. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers guys, much appreciated, so much exploring to do in this area.
Hey guys. Love your vids. Walked the Heaphi track. Remember getting out of the car and getting eaten alive by sandflies by the time we found our Bushmans repellant in the backpack. It was stunning. Loved the isolation. Used to strip off and run and dive into all the beautiful waterholes we came across before the sandflies could get us. ❤
Yea mate it's an incredible area, we loved it up there in winter the sandflies are pretty quiet... I love the isolation aa well
Wow this place is awesome it's now on our bucket list. Thanks for the videos you do.
SWEET MATE, we loved it up there, pretty long way to go for New Zealand standards and it's a very quiet part of New Zealand but thats what we love.
Love your videos
Thanks a lot mate, nice sharing the adventure with you all.
Lol "Where's your light Mikey" Such a lovely part of the country.
The cheek of it all aye.. And here I am the one who doesn't even like caves, and I've got no light.
@@leopardsgowild you big brave fella lol
Such a great area, you had a lovely spot at Kōhhaihai. Definitely an area for outdoor adventures. Such a small world in regards to the house you worked on in Karamea
Thats so cool that photo you sent, I should forward it on to the family... The have some cool plans for the house, nice I got to plaster up the 3 bedroooms downstairs. Loved this spot heaps that didn't make it into the video including cockle gathering in the Estuary.
Another awesome vlog! Go Leopards!
Thanks so much mate, incredibly diverse country we live in.
Very cool. Can’t wait to visit ourselves
its an amazing spot, we were def warned about sandflies in the summer though, such a raw place we loved it.
Such a stunning spot.
yes, we loved it up here, it's a long way off the main rd, definitely a destination, pity the DO camp has a 2 night max stay in the summer.
Those social cheeky little weka were a highlight in our travels down there (we’re WBOP). Many tourists asked if they were kiwi. Thanks for taking us to parts we haven’t had a chance to see yet. Hoping your travels can continue for another year+!🤩
Oh thanks so much, we love the Weka, although sometimes they are a bit of a pain, especially when they jump into the caravan or peck at your leg when your on your camping chair lol... This one who followed us had us laughing, didn't know if it would make the whole loop with us... Riley of course loved having the bird follow us. YES bring on more adventures, looking forward to it.
They were quick to steal our frozen steaks when our backs were turned.
Found your videos just yesterday. Am envious of you. Keep enjoying yourselves.
Oh sweet mate, welcome to the channel, pretty cool lifestyle what we are doing, no plans to give it anytime soon, such a chilled life, until you need to go make money again.
Incredible !! It's the way I envisioned NZ...
Yes its a great spot in this area, rough n rugged and beautiful... pretty remote place to be.
Wow, what a stunning place. Thanks for another great video. Hope to see a lot more now with your new computer.
Yea man, back on the road today, beautiful sunshine, looking forward to getting the Drone out, looks like there are some awesome beaches where we are going today.
Love this video. You have inspired us to visit here and explore those beautiful places. Epic campsite!
We so loved it up here, the scenary is so raw, and unspoilt as well as wild, you will not be dissapointed.
Another great video Mike, love the music choices.
oh thanks so much, I pick the music I like lol... I think it makes a big diferrence, it's usally the last thing I add, it makes a big difference.
Totally stunning
you been up here before?
Awesome scenery, what a trip. Love your videos 👌
Thanks a lot, was an awesome spot to explore, lots to do up there as long as the weather is good. Otherwise have to grab out the jackets.
Thanks Mike, great video - will have to add this to the must visit list!
Yea it's a great spot, definitley a long way off the main path, but it's very peaceful and quiet up there which is so nice.
Great video guys! I sure enjoy all your adventures in our beautiful country!
Oh thanks we live in a very unique and diverse country. I. Just putting together a video of the last year... so much diversty
Yay
YES!!! Yay. :) thanks for commenting, lets see if TH-cam notices.
That looks like a great place to visit, I will be putting that on my list
You should! its' awesome, one of those top 10 locations I reckon.
*forget swimming with sharks, you're catching them instead haha. Winter travel has definitely done you guys right this year.*
Been the easiest winter I've ever endured i reckon, we loved it.
Such a nice area!🤩
YES, I'd highly rate this spot, it is quite far out the way for those with limited time, but so well worth checking out.
So cool guys! Can’t wait to start our trip you are showing us some awesome spots - thanks mate!
This is a pretty epic spot, lots of tiny home and off grid life stylers up in this part of the country.
Ha we might just stay there! 😂
What a beautiful part of NZ. Have inspired us to get over there. Happy travels😀😀
Stunning place alright mate... pretty far from everywhere
Awesone video
Thanks a lot team, glad you enjoyed.
keep up the awesome work guys 👍😊
Thanks a lot mate, looking forward to more adventures, never done the west coast so lots of exploring to be done.
Amazing cave.! There is one similar to this on northern Vancouver island called Huston cavern.
Oh awesome I think there are 3 arches in this area, there is another way that is way bigger and only 1km walk, but it was closed due to a slip. they are pretty impressive though.
My home town ♥
What a spot... we did heaps more but couldn't include it all in the video. What a beautiful place
Wow nice to the area again. We only did a day trip. Brian was weary of me towing the caravan. Nice to see places I got to. Thank you for the journey guys team Kawerau
Thanks team Kawerau, it's def a gnarly hill to get over aye? did you head into the Arches, when you were here, or just into Karamea?
@@leopardsgowild just to Karamea. The Arches would have been to hard for Brian. But was awesome to see your video of it.
Great video Leopard fam, makes me miss my home. Look forward to the next video. Safe travels
thanks mate, Where is home for you? Where are you based currently?
@@leopardsgowild I am based in Australia and consider Christchurch home, well to be honest anywhere in the South Island. Your South Island travels have brought back many memories of me with my family when I was a kid. NZ is truly a place of great beauty.
Happy fathers day to all the dads kia kaha
Enjoying the vids mate
thats good to hear you have a couple of hundred to get through lol...
Another fabulous video Mike, brought back so many memories. Aren’t those Nikau trees fabulous? Make you realise we are in the middle of the Pacific 😄 unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Ōpārara Basin Arches, but is still on our list of things to do.. but lists of great biking and walks available in the area 👍
Yea I wondered if the Nikau were exclusive to the North part but nope Punakaiki has loads to... beautiful 😍 place
Great video
thanks mate appreciate that.
Man, that is so beautiful. We're gonna have to make that 1 of our stops. I might run out of time.
Yea, it's easy for the days to get lost and dissappear quickly, just have to hope the weathers good, cause when it's bad exploring is not so fun!
❤
thanks for the love :)
We did the drive to the caves a year ago and it was the most terrifying and exhilarating experience I’ve had. Have they improved the road heaps? I can’t believe how chilled you were about it. Loving going back down memory lane as you are travelling where we went last year. Thank you and again, love the music.
I found the rd to be similar to the bluffs just slow going, a very slow rd. 🐌
@@leopardsgowild interesting- it was very rutted when we went. I suspect it has been improved. Thanks for replying
❤😊
smile back
Ha! Couldn't understand why I was getting no internet. My phone had gone flat! Anyway, those nikau ferns looked amazing. You gotta love a friendly weka.
the weka are so funny, they cruise around and jump in the caravan.
Wish we had gone up that wau instead of stopping at westport. Love the vids
Its a great spot a bit of a drive, that road over the hill is very slow travel, but if you have the time so much exploring over here...
😊 glad our donations got you what you needed. Have definitely got plenty of entertainment from your videos and well worth the value of the donation!
Cheers team, it's so much nicer to be able to edit from the position that is the most comfortable then be wondering if the next time I need to sneeze the Laptop screen is going to blow apart lol... This one is much fast at processing all the video files as well, so I'm pretty stoked. Thanks heaps for the contribution all those 60 people who gave made all the difference.
we loved our stay there and we will be back.
Oh cool, pretty epic spot alright. Glad the winter provided some protection from the sandflies. that winter sun was def feeling warm though.
Reminds me of the high passes here in British Columbia, Canada. Beautiful spot you have!
I'm not sure if I have asked before, but are Ya'll from Canada?
@@leopardsgowild Vancouver island BC Canada
@scallywags12 oh that's exciting thanks for watching from Cross the pacific 😀
Great video! We loved Karamea. So remote, and beautiful. Moira arches is stunning
Yea that place was next level cool, was so weird to discover that loop track walks over the top of the arch as well.
😊
Legend thanks mate.
So nice to go somewhere that you can have virtually to yourselves.
Yea welcome to winter travels, so many empty places down South. I imagine we will eventually see these places start to fill up again in the next couple of months... Atleast in Sept, the days are getting longer, but the snow is still on the mountains, looking pretty.
Looks like an awesome place to visit thanks for sharing your experiences
Sweet as team, thanks for watching def a spot you'll love.
Great channel dude, new sub 👍
thanks mate, welcome aboard..
very beautiful. Its going on our winter travels list now too
I've heard it's not so great in summer, swarms and swarms of Sandflies, apparently they can be so bad that it makes people leave... Winter there were a few about but not to many, and it's also much easier to wear long pants and long sleeves to cover up from them, so it's a great winter location.
Just been up at Gentle Annie fishing, great spot.
was our caravan still there? We only left yesterday.
@@leopardsgowild seen you driving out
Beautiful area and very interesting! I will have to remember this area when we finally get down south with our caravan. Good work guys!❤
yes definitley add it to the list... they say the sandflies are pretty bad in summer, so winter could be an ideal time, pretty quiet on the sandfly count...
Great vids Leopards!! Thanks for showing us such great scenery..
Thanks mate, such an epic spot, the camera never does it justice... I reckon it's likely a great winter spot, summer sounds like sandflies are rough..
@@leopardsgowild I reckon you're right, I spent winter last year in Golden Bay, it was truly glorious even though often very wet!!!
❤ Nikau! 😍
where abouts are you based?
What a stunning area!
yea it was so nice up here, and so warm for winter which was a nice change from some of the areas we have been in, now just waiting for the days to get longer.
Great to see this area again as we only passed through on route to start Heaphy track. Makes me want to go back!
Love following your journey.
Its a long way off the main drag to spend time at, I guess that's why it's so special, and undeveloped. Soph has her heart set on hiking the Heaphy track now. She loves it up there.
i think pies are fantastic
Especially paua pies 🥧 😋 😍 have you tried one?
Definitely going to head back to Gentle Annies (out of season) and do more exploring of the area. Good to see they have finally built extra facilities.
Yes lots of great new facilities, they are investing a lot in the place currently. They also have jumped into the winter camp saver rate, so only $115 for a powered site per week this winter for 2 adults, lots of great spots to explore from here.
How were the sandflys? We didn't stay at Kohaihai because they were so bad when we were there.
Oh really, we've heard stories of people packing up and leaving because the sandflies were to intense... Winter is always a better time for avoiding bugs, which was part of our travel plans for the West coast in winter... We found the sandflies to be easily managed, a few here and there, but nothing to worry about at all.
One of the few remaining quiet spots in NZ. Why post a video about it?
oh this is def not one of the few remaining quiet spots there are so many around NZ just have a look at our channel... Also a quick search on TH-cam will show you how many other videos there are show casing this area.
I think Deadend is two words.. just sayn
I actually googled it and got both options...
Here's another comment
😂
HA HA, thanks for the lovely Emoji... Lets go team... I'm going to be interested if TH-cam picks it up with the Algorithm or if like normal things just float on by...
❤
Thanks for the Love team...
❤
Oh how I love this, your the first Emoji... Cheers.