Position 41 15.560S 172 06.392E

Managed to phone Mum this morning and now we are off to Karamea – apparently one of those rumoured NZ best kept secrets.  The road between Westport and Karamea was fabulous.  On a par with Great Ocean Road in Australia.  Lots of towering cliffs.  First stop was Gentle Annie Point.  Caught this dragonfly on the way up.  There is a maze at the top of the hill which leads to an observation platform.  Not sure if the platform is a bench or not.  Anyway, we found the bench, which was dedicated to a family whose names I cannot remember. 

Couple of views.  Big long pebble beach at the bottom.

Paul and I take a walk on the beach and come across Paradise Duck family.

These poor ducklings were being harrased by Mum to follow her into the sea.  \Only problem was big breaking waves, poor things kept getting washed out to sea and paddling for dear life to get back to shore.

When we reached Karamea, first stop the beach.  Me and the bar-tailed godwit.  This bird flies from the Arctic non-stop to NZ.

You can see why the Maori called NZ the land of the cloud.  These develop during the day and disperse in the evening.

We also walked the estuary – but frankly not that great.  Paul has just reminded me that this is the historic remains (!) of the railway line that used to carry flax to waiting ships.