Stop #13: Wharariki

Number of nights: 1
Distance: 190 KM (3,065 KM Total)

We made the trek up to the rugged and windy north coast of the South Island and stayed in a remote campsite near Wharariki Beach. Although it only had basic amenities, there was a nice little shared cabin where we cooked a tasty pasta dinner while it rained cats and dogs outside. Thankfully it only began to rain after we got back from the beach, but you can see from the pictures below, the clouds were threatening rain at any moment.

Walking towards the empty, rugged Wharariki Beach. This photo has an odd sense of scale, as things are much bigger than they appear. If you look closely, you can spot other people walking in the top left of the photo.
The Archway Islands on Wharariki Beach.
Wharariki Beach, the Archway Islands, and Dominique.
This photo may be familiar to some, especially if you’re a Windows user, as the Windows lock screen on certain versions of Windows will show a picture from this beach.

 

This is the original photo. Look familiar?

 

A self-portrait with a somewhat confused look on my face.
This is the original photo. Look familiar?
These are the same Archway Islands in the photos above, just from another angle. This is Dominique from another angle as well.
We shared the beach with a family of seals, who enjoyed hanging out by a tidal pool on the other side of the beach.
New Zealand coastlines look great, no matter the weather.
Returning from the beach, where access was through a cool tunnel-like path made by the forest.
The following morning the weather was even worse, where it was much windier, but that didn’t stop us from heading to Cape Farewell, which was even more windy!
The ocean was violently crashing against the coastline, making one think how terrible it would be to fall in. Shortly after this thought, I saw some seals playing around in the surge.
That’s Dominique over there. I kept trying to tell her “a bit more to the left!”, but she didn’t hear me.