Nile River Caves and Pancake Rocks

Date: March 14, 2019 – March 16, 2019
Location: Cape Foulwind, New Zealand

March 14, 2019

We left Richmond and drove along Route 6 towards Westport. We stayed at an Airbnb just south of Westport in Cape Foulwind. The Airbnb was surrounded by farmland.

We were able to walk to the Okari Estuary.

The area had many Wekas. Wekas are a flightless bird that are mainly found in the north and west regions of the South Island.

March 15, 2019
Underworld Rafting

We booked the Underworld Rafting tour with Underworld Adventures. The pictures from the tour were taken by Underworld Adventures. After a short drive we arrived at the Nile River Rainforest Train.

We took the train into the rainforest, where we picked up our tubes.

After crossing the Nile River on the swing bridge we arrived at the Nile River cave entrance.

The cave was really amazing! There were many stalactites and stalagmites. 

This was my favorite part of the cave with the formations on the ceiling.

If the water level gets too high in the caves, the rafting portion of the tour is cancelled. Because there was a lot of rain the day before our trip, we didn’t know when we started the tour if we would be able to raft out of the cave or not.

After the guides checked the water level in the cave it was determined that we could do the tube portion. The water level was the highest that they would allow before cancelling. We sat in our tubes and floated through a system of glow-worm caves. Tubing in the dark and seeing all of the glow worms was really amazing. There were so many of them!

We came out of the cave opening below.

The Nile River was moving fast with a lot of water, but we were able to complete the full tour and float down the Nile River to get back to the Nile River Rainforest Train.

The tour was great and we would highly recommend it to anyone in the area. 

Pancake Rocks and Blowholes

After the Underworld Rafting tour we went to Pancake Rocks.

The limestone rocks were formed 30 million years ago in layers that look like thick pancakes.

There are several caverns where water enters. Blowholes were created over time when the water was forced upwards.

On one of the rocks we saw Spotted shag.

The area also had Weka.

March 16, 2019

We had planned to go up to Oparara Arch in the Kahurangi National Park. It would have been a two-and-a-half hour drive each way. Since it was raining, and the cave we saw the day before was amazing, we decided not to go up to Oparara Arch. 

During the rainy day I completed a puzzle and started another one that I didn’t have time to finish before we left the next day.