Karamea Bluff Nikau Palms

Description

Karamea is a town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located 96 kilometres (60 mi) northeast by road from Westport. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karamea and its local area are completely surrounded to the south, east and north by Kahurangi National Park.

Karamea is a gateway to the Kahurangi National Park, and provides a base for visitors coming to walk or mountain bike the Heaphy Track, or see popular local attractions such as the Ōpārara Basin, Ōpārara Arches, the Fenian Track and caves, the Big Rimu Walk and the coastal scenery north of Kōhaihai on the Heaphy Track.

The mouth of the Heaphy River is the site of an early Māori encampment dating back to perhaps 1380 AD, and there is evidence it was one of the few sites in the northwest South Island occupied by people for extended periods of time. There is significant evidence of stoneworking, including local pounamu as well as argillite, obsidian, and chert imported from elsewhere in Aotearoa. The significance of the site to Ngāi Tahu led to it being excluded from Kahurangi National Park.

Although nikau occur naturally from North Cape to about the latitude of Akaroa, nowhere are they a more striking part of the landscape than on the South Island West Coast. Standing tall like giant feather dusters, the stately plants have become something of a botanical signature to the region.