Golden Bay

Our last day in the Nelson region, Wednesday, we headed north to Golden Bay, at the top of South Island. We got there by way of Takaka, Onekaka and Pupu Springs. No, I did not make up the names.


We were out about 10 hours all told today, most of it driving. The scenery was as usual spectacular, but different from previous days. A taste of Switzerland with the snow capped mountains above a lush green valley and forested mountains that looked like Hawaii.


We stopped first in Takaka and picked up some water, cheese and crackers for lunch. We stopped at a very small town called Collingwood and ate by the beach.



North from there to Puponga which is the northern end of the road. Golden Bay is vast and at the northern end of the bay is Farewell Spit, which is not accessible by road. They say it is the largest sand spit in the world, extending out 25km forming the northern edge of the bay.



From Puponga we took the gravel road toward Wharariki Beach. The guy in the camera store in Nelson yesterday said we had to go and see the dunes. We parked the car at the end of the road and started the 25 minute walk over the hill and through the sheep farm to the dunes.

The wind has rarely been absent since we are arrived in wet and windy Wellington 10 days ago. This morning was a beautiful morning, so much so that our hosts asked if we would like to have breakfast on their deck. A great breakfast, a beautiful day and no wind.

The wind had returned with a vengeance by the time we got to the dunes. We didn't last long there and could really only look in one direction due to the "sand blast facial" we got if we turned toward the wind. The pictures of this area may look misty. That's blowing sand. Maybe Kareem will recognize it! The only thing we could compare it to are The Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/TheCliffs.aspx




Back through the sheep pasture and to the car park we went, then off to Pupu Springs on the way back.



The full name of the place is Waikoropupu Springs, but the locals and the road signs just call it Pupu. This is glacial melt that springs out of the ground, and creates a crystal clear running river.




From Pupu we headed south to Motueka and had dinner at a converted Methodist Church which had been built in the '20's. A very nice meal, headed back to our lodge and arrived just before the rain.


Tomorrow we have a long 6 hour or so drive southwest to the West Coast of the South Island and leave the NZ wine country behind.