Oparara Basin - Karst Wonders Karamea

Oparara Basin, lying east of Karamea, is the ultimate wonder in lifestone formations characterised by karst terrain. Karst is an area of irregular limestone in which erosion has produced fissures, sinkholes, underground streams and caverns over millions of years.

Oparara Basin also has the distinction of housing New Zealand's largest spider, the 15 cemtimetre harmless gradungular spider, found in the caves. It is here that you can find an ancient and primitive carnivorous snail that grows about 70 millimetres in width. Tannin stained rivers flow gently through this region over stained white boulders and you can occasionally spot the rare blue duck or whio looking for dinner. Oparara Basin's river banks are ideal for a picnic outing or afternoon walk.

Another interesting natural attraction in the Oparara Basin is the Honeycomb Hill Caves that was discovered as recently as the 1970s. Ten kilometres north of Karamea, this provides a fascinating insight into the fauna of New Zealand. The cave floor rich in lime sediment has helped preserve the ancient skeletons of over fifty species of birds that died by falling through the roof of the caves.

The only way of visiting the Honeycomb Caves is through the excellent and informative Honeycomb Hills Cave Tour which explores about 15 kilometres of the cave passages. The tours are of two and half hours duration and depart from the McCallums Mill car park. The cave trips can be done in tandem with the Honeycomb Hill Arch Kayak Tour, an excellent kayaking experience through thick bush under a limestone arch. The changing watercourses leave behind dry caves with a collection of spiders and fossils and a couple of them near Honeycomb caves are the Crazy Paving caves and the Box Canyon Caves.

Two prime examples of classic limestone architecture are the Oparara Arch and the Moria Gate Arch. The Oparara Arch can be reached through a 40 minute return walk through the bush. It is a beautiful two tiered bridge. The Moria Gate Arch is a 1 hour return trek by walking on a track passing through pristine high canopy native forest and through a short cave thereafter.

LooknbookNZ can organise your Oparara Basin accommodation and Oparara Basin activities bookings and let you and your family/friends have an amazing experience in the wonderful karst formations of the Oparara Basin.