The Last Resort - Karamea, New Zealand Review

New Zealand is a great country for camping. There are lots of amazing places where you can set up camp and not see another person for days - or even weeks. It's a clean, safe, friendly country with no predatory animals. In other words, a camper's paradise.

Karamea is on NZ's South Island. Located on the rugged West Coast, Karamea serves as the beginning of the beginning (or the end) of NZ's famed Heaphy Track - a gorgeous, rugged trail that takes about seven days to walk. For many people, Karamea is the last stop before beginning the Heaphy walk. For others, it's the first bit of "civilization" when they've finished the exhausting trek. The Last Resort was built with both types of  tavellers in mind.

For us, Karamea was our last stop of real camping after a whole month of camping all over the South Island. For 30 days, we'd lived out of our tent, taken solar showers, cooked on a little Coleman stove, and slept on an air mattress. When we arrived in Karamea, we went toa DOC (department of Conservation) camp, pitched our tent, and stayed right on the beach for four four five days. It was great - not another camper around. We walked the first leg of the Heaphy track (amazing!) and walked back. We cooked up the last of our provisions and enjoyed the end of our month-long vacation. By the time we were ready to head back home to Wellington, we felt we deserved one night in a more permanent, cushy lodging. The only real lodging in Karamea is The Last Resort - an amazing place that caters to every level of traveller.

Teenagers with very little money, happy to spend a few bucks for a clean bunk in a dormitory setting are catered to. So are travellers with a bit more money, looking for more private quarters, and even those with money to burn, looking for luxurious cabins. Everyone is welcome at The Last Resort, and everyone gets the same, great service.

One of the great things about this place is that all of its facilities are open to all lodgers. The restaurant is gorgeous and serves amazing food, but it's not the sole domain of the high-end guests. Not at all! The menu has a wide range of foods and prices, and everyone eats in the same dining room. It's business as usual at The Last Resort for a couple of young backpackers to enojoy their hamburgers at a table next to a wealthy couple enjoying a luxury South Pacific adventure, dining on grilled trout. When you get to The Last Resort, check your snobbery at the door, please!

It's my understanding that one of the reasons such a grand lodging was given the go-ahead in such a small, remote location was that all of the labor used was local. The same holds true for building materials, such as lumber. The place is beautiful - wonderful rustic woodwork, and all of the artisan carpentry was done by local people. The food served at the restaurant, too, comes from local farms. In such a remote, depressed corner of the South Pacific, I find it really admirable that somene has found a way to bring commerce in, without  spoiling the natural beauty.

I loved this place. They have great lodging, a fabulous restaurant, the best spa pool I've ever used, and they offer really great, friendly, down-home service to everyone, regardless of budget. It's a great way to start off a Heaphy Track holiday, and a great way to end a Heaphy Track vacation, as well. The Last Resort really captures the spirit of New Zealand.