On Saturday 14th February we arrived at Collingwood, a small seaside town in Golden Bay which is at the end of State Highway 60 in the north west corner of the South Island.

Golden Bay is part of the Tasman Sea and access is on foot via the multi day Abel Tasman Track to the East or Heaphy Track to the North, by water taxi or plane or for most folk by road over Takaka Hill.

I must admit that I was a bit fearful of the drive over Takaka Hill which is a steep and windy road over from the more populated Tasman Bay to Golden Bay. I’d seen many references to Takaka Hill in my research and it didn’t sound a particular safe or pleasant drive with many hairpin bends up to a height of 791 metres above sea level.

The hill, known locally as the Marble Mountain, is formed of marble and limestone and over the millennia has weather into many strange shapes like karsts with many sink holes and caves. It was the location for a number of the Lord of the Rings scenes.

In the event the drive was less fearsome than I anticipated and Ann loved it as the weather was good and the views are spectacular. As everywhere here in N.Z., stopping places and viewing points are provided frequently to give some great photo opportunities.

Golden Bay is sparsely populated but is a popular holiday destination for Kiwis because of the climate and the beaches which come one after another as you drive along after the descent from The Hill and through the small town of Takaka –  it’s not difficult to find your own beach for an afternoon.

Takaka (population about 1,100) and Collingwood (circa 250) are the two main townships in Golden Bay and, as they were quite different, we had decided to stay for a few days in each place starting first with Collingwood.

Collingwood

Collingwood, which is the most north westerly town in the north of South Island is a former gold town of the 1850s. It is a tiny town  but is an ecotourism destination being at the mouth of the Aoere River, gateway to Karurangi National Park, the last town before the beginning of the Heaphy Track (one of the Nine Great Walks) and the base for catching an Eco tour to Farewell Spit.

The town is pretty and very old fashioned and, like many of the small towns here, has an Old England feel to it. There are a number of hotels and motels, a pub/diner, a number of cafes and takeaways and the usual tourist shops and all, or most, are timber built. There are very few old buildings as a number of fires in the late 1800’s and 1900’s devastated the town.

We stayed at the Old Station House Motel (originally the old police station) where we had a lovely room with French doors which opened out into to a lovely garden area with BBQ facilities. Very old fashioned but clean and with the all important decent WiFi.

Like everywhere in New Zealand, tourism is largely based on the outdoors whether it be land or water based; tramping (hiking), hill climbing, fishing or watersports. Elsewhere the more  adventurous pursuits such as bungee jumping, skydiving, canyoning and the like can be done.

We were blessed with great weather during our stay and managed to complete some great walks and an excellent guided excursion.

Whaririki Beach – Awesome!

One of the highlights of our stay here was a visit to Wharariki Beach. This is son Matt’s favourite beach and is on a stretch of spectacular coastline with a long stretch of white sand with sand dunes and backed by forest. There are huge cliffs and rock karst like formations off shore which over the millenia have been eaten away by the sea, creating arches, stacks and caves. The beach  can only be accessed by foot; a short walk through sand dunes from a farm paddock or a longer walk via farmland and forest. We chose the longer forested track and although we managed to get lost and walked twice as far as needed, we were rewarded with some stunning scenery and the sight of black swans and other unidentified bird life.

Whilst Wharariki was definitely the beach walk of all beach walks,  we completed a number of  other interesting walks including Waikouropuu Springs where the largest cold water springs in the Southern Hemisphere can be found.

Farewell Spit

The other highlight of this area was a bus  tour to Farewell Spit. This is a narrow sand spit at the extreme northern tip of the South Island which stretches more than 30km into the Tasman Sea. It is the longest natural sandbar in the world and an internationally renowned bird sanctuary. It is protected by the DOC and access is only permitted for this organised tour or for research purposes. Sadly, Farewell Spit appears on international news from time to time because over the years it has been the scene of a number of mass strandings of pilot whales. The whales become beached at low tide for reasons not really understood. Only a week or so before our trip, there was a mass stranding of almost two hundred whales which we thought might scupper the tour. Hundreds of people from the area flocked to try to help re-float the animals but whilst a few were rescued, most died.

In the event, the whale carcasses were removed by the Authorities in a matter of days and Tourism resumed and our tour went ahead. Our tour, on a specially constructed vehicle to ride the sands, started with a visit to Cape Farewell, the most northerly point on the South Island. It was discovered by Abel Tasman and named by Captain James Cook in 1770 – the last land seen by the crew as they departed on their homeward voyage. It provides some stunning views over clear blue sea in which we spotted sting rays and baby seals during our visit.

Our trip continued along Farewell Spit to the end where there is a gannet colony – unfortunately we couldn’t get too close on the day but we did see many breeds of birds and fur seals en route and the trip included a visit to the  historic lighthouse.

A bit of homework for you: Google Farewell Spit lighthouse history for the interesting story of the lighthouse and the people who manned it.

This was a great  6 hour outing with an excellent driver/guide who was very knowledgable and very entertaining which made for  a very enjoyable experience.

Takaka

After 4 nights in Collingwood we moved back along Highway 60  to Takaka to spend a couple of nights of bliss in a B&B, the Shady Rest. Takaka is  another place close to Matt’s heart and he has a number of friends in the area including his former landlady Pauline and friend Mark, an Englishman who owns and runs the Shady Rest, a fabulous old house originally a doctors house and surgery which Mark has lovingly restored to its former glory over a period of years. The rooms are amazing and there is a fantastic garden to enjoy, including an outside bath in a secluded part of the garden if that sort of thing appeals. Breakfast is served in the big open plan kitchen which is great and leads to a very convivial atmosphere – Mark is a great host.

Takaka is a very interesting and pleasant town with a very different feel about it. It is more laid-back than even your average laid back New Zealand town due to the fact it has a long established community of alternative lifestylers (aka hippies) and there are lots of little arts and craft type shops, whole food and organic food shops and it a very bohemian feel. Notwithstanding it seems quite an affluent place.

Our two days here flew by in very pleasant fashion visiting various local beaches and sights but happily we got chance to have a cuppa and catch up with Pauline, who we had met previously in the UK and we also enjoyed an hour or two of post pub craic and excellent home brew with Mark. This was our first catered stop in New Zealand where we enjoyed proper beautifully  cooked breakfasts on two consecutive days! We can highly recommend Shady Rest and hopefully we will get chance to return before too long…

The Abel Tasman is New Zealand’s smallest National Park but a very popular one. It consists of a coastal area between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay. This is forested hilly country with a coastline of beautiful bays and coves of golden sands. The Abel Tasman Coastal track is one of New Zealand’s famous nine “Great Walks” which brings many visitors to the country. The track is considered a 3-5 day tramp and as for other walks there are a few DOC camp sites and huts placed strategically along the route. Whilst this is a multi-day route it is possible, as for other walks, to do part only of the route for a day in this case by taking a boat trip or water taxi from one of the nearby towns and getting dropped at one location along the track and arranging for the boat to pick you up at another point later in the day.

Kaiteriteri is a very small beachside town with a population of only around 700 residents. It has one of New Zealand’s most beautiful beaches – the sand is gold in colour and is a popular holiday destination. Close to Marahau which itself is the gateway to the Abel Tasman, we chose to stay there in the hope of completing a section of the walk. We arrived on 11th February in glorious sunshine.

We stayed at the Torlesse Motel which has fairly typical motel accommodation consisting of a large-ish open plan room with bed, a couple of armchairs, dining table and chairs and kitchen/kitchenette with an en suite bathroom. Invariably, to date, the motels we have used have been very clean and tidy with good showers other facilities and helpful, friendly owners. Inevitably some are bigger than others; some have separate bedrooms, some have outside space/balconies and some are more modern than others. Kitchens/kitchenettes are either full kitchens or limited to a toaster/microwave/kettle/fridge. A separate laundry facility is usually available at extra cost but our Torlesse room included a washing machine much to Ann’s delight!

Our motel was actually in Little Kaiteriteri just over the hill, a 20 minute up and down walk away from the hustle and bustle of Kaiteriteri itself. The hustle and bustle of this small town comprises a small supermarket, a takeaway, couple of gift shops and a hotel/restaurant plus 3 or 4 booking offices for companies offering trips, water sports etc.

The motel was only a few hundred metres from the small bay with a beautiful golden sand beach which was invariably as good as deserted apart from a handful or two folk.

We spent 3 nights here giving us 2 full days to explore. On arrival, we took a walk over to and around the town to get our bearings and picked up one or two requisites from the supermarket. Dinner was whitebait fritters courtesy of Trevor and Brian.

 

The next day we booked a boat ride to the top end of the Abel Tasman with a drop off at Medlands on the return route. We would then be picked up after a 16K tramp at Anchorage. The walk was excellent and we enjoyed it a lot. It was a fairly easy tramp being graded as Easy to Moderate by DOC and included a walk across a swing bridge. There were however a lot of ups and downs sufficient to get the heart pumping. Much of the walk was through forest albeit with regular glimpses of the sea and at times the route drops back to sea level at one of the many stunning beach along this coast line.

The next day we explored the local Kaiteriteri area by taking walks to St Stephens Bay, Maori Pa Site and Bay View lookout. Later in the day, knackered, we spent a couple of relaxing hours on the beach enjoying the sunshine.

Nelson was one of the places we were most looking forward to visiting. It was home to Matt whilst he lived in New Zealand. He loved it and we were sure we would love it too from what we had heard and read. We were to stay with friends Brian and Trevor who we had met on their trip to the UK and who had invited us to stay with them when we were in town.

The drive from St Omer to Nelson was not much over 150KM but slow going due to the state of the roads for the first part of the journey out of the Sounds – the reverse of our inward journey.

We broke the drive by stopping at Havelock for lunch. Havelock is a small coastal town – population less than 1,000 – on Pelorus Sound and is famous as being the green lipped mussel capital of the world. The town pretty much consists of a small marina and a single street wide street of a few shops, galleries, eateries and a Four Square Supermarket. Each of the eateries majors on mussels including the supermarket which like most supermarkets in this neck of the world sells fresh live mussels.

The eateries offer their mussels in a variety of ways, including pies but we managed to resist the mussel temptations and opted to buy the makings of a sandwich from the Four Square.

We arrived in Nelson mid-afternoon and spent an hour or so wandering around town to find Ann a hairdresser and visiting the I Centre (tourist information) which was packed with people looking for accommodation and info. With hairdresser sorted we called Brian who had offered to meet us in town as the house was apparently a tad tricky to find.

That evening we enjoyed the craic with a great dinner cooked by Trevor and retired not too late pleasantly knackered after a long day finished off with a few beers, wine and, of course, one or two off the top shelf.

The following day we drove the short way up the coast to Rabbit Island, a huge and lovely beach perfect for families. We didn’t linger but did notice that here, as elsewhere, there was a complete absence of litter on the beach; picnic benches and fixed heavy duty barbecues were provided and the place generally was well set up for recreation with miles of walking and cycle tracks in the area.

Mapua is a small town West of Nelson on the Waimea Estuary with a nice wharf area that has developed as a little tourist spot with art and sculpture studios and other assorted retail opportunities. There are a few bars, cafes and restaurants including the ubiquitous fish and chip shop which in this case also sold fresh and smoked fish. New Zealand apparently doesn’t have a national dish but every town seems to have at least one take-away that likely as not sells a variety of goodies including chips and a selection of different types of fried fish. To date we have spotted few chippies that sell hot pies but most towns have a bakery selling pies and a hot pie cabinet seems to feature in almost any other food outlet or supermarket you can find. The pies have a wide range of fillings and three weeks into this trip, if anyone had asked us to guess the National Dish of New Zealand we would have guessed at “Fush & Chups” as the Kiwis say, or pies! (At the time of writing this, 1st March, we still haven’t tried a pie which is amazing given my love of pastry treats in the form of pies and pasties.)

After lunch it was back to Nelson for a wander around the town. We were impressed with the place; a really pleasant laid back atmosphere with everything seemingly happening at half pace. The streets were clean with a variety of shops bars and restaurants with a few food and drink stalls set up at the crossroads of the main streets selling coffee, ice cream and a variety of ethnic foods all adding to the cosmopolitan feel of the place.

Brian was working that evening so Ann and I dragged Trevor into town for a curry. Brian suggested a Malay/Indian restaurant which was excellent. With a beer/wine or two followed by a nightcap back at the house it was time for bed. Trevor was flying to Wellington early next morning so we said our goodbyes before retiring.

Next morning, we bade our farewells to Brian who sent us on our way with a pack of frozen whitebait. We had seen whitebait advertised in a number of places including some on those home made roadside advertising boards You often see selling fresh eggs or fruit. I had also seen reference to “white baiting” when reading up on fishing in NZ.

Trevor had explained that the whitebait were much smaller than we are used to in the UK and although this wasn’t whitebait season, he had promised some for us to try. Whitebait here in New Zealand are the juveniles of a number of fish types which are born in freshwater, swept out to sea with the tide and then return to the rivers and streams in spring.

It seems that during the whitebaiting season (August to November) locals and visitors alike flock to the many rivers and streams throughout the country to harvest the fish with nets. Unlike other fish caught by recreational fishers, whitebait can be sold which no doubt is part of its attraction. The pursuit of whitebait is said to be an iconic part of New Zealand life and culture.

The fish are mixed with beaten eggs, seasoned and formed and cooked as small patties.

Before we left Nelson, once Ann had been to the hairdressers and we had dined on excellent Turkish kebabs, we shopped at Countdown before driving North to Kateriteri where we would stay for 3 nights

Nelson has left a definite impression on both of us. I have asked Ann if we can go back to live there. She has promised to think about it!

Following a quick grocery top up at the Fresh Choice Supermarket in Picton, we set off for Marlborough Sounds on the morning of 4th February.

We were excited at the prospect of visiting the Sounds which cover a huge area with relatively little accommodation. We were hoping to find somewhere secluded and exclusive and the chalet we booked fitted the bill. It was about 2.5 hours drive from Picton which was itself the nearest proper town. There were no facilities in the immediate area of the house, the nearest hotel/restaurant/bar being Raetihi Lodge 6 km away. Just what we were looking for.

In truth I was a tad concerned at the drive ahead. When making the initial enquiry about the accommodation I was told that most of the last 20KM of the journey was on narrow and windy unsealed roads in a fairly mountainous region which I thought might be an issue with the car hire firm. There were options of water taxis from Clifton or even a water plane but in the event it wasn’t an issue with the car hire confirming AOK – but I still didn’t much fancy that last stretch.

The drive was fine. We have done worse and more stressful drives in the Lake District. We had a great stay. The house had its own friendly Weka bird (a flightless friendly bird about the size of a chicken) and a possum (an unwanted OZ import classed as vermin) which visited at least one evening pushing its pink nose up against the French windows as we sat reading.

The accommodation was Dutch-owned and excellent. It was kitted out to a high standard and, most importantly, the wifi was strong. The weather was mostly good with temperatures in the 20s and with only a couple of hours of rain on one of our 4 days.We did some good 10/15 km walks on 3 of our 4 days – and felt very pleased with ourselves as one in particular, a walk over the mountain to a bay in the Next Sound, was pretty tough – for us. The last day was spent reading and fishing on St Omer Beach.

A perfect time in the Sounds. Next stop: Nelson!

The drive from Kaikoura to Picton is around 160km (100 miles) and takes around 2.5 hours but we stopped off to Blenheim about 20 minutes short of Picton to pick up some groceries; this trip, for NZ and OZ anyway, will be largely self catering, not just for budgeting reasons but also because dining out night after night is just too much.

Blenheim is the largest town in the Marlborough Region with a population in the region of 30,000. This is an agricultural area with the economy based on horticulture and sheep but the area is best known as the centre of New Zealand’s wine industry. Marlborough Region is by far the biggest wine producing region and 86% of it is Sauvignon Blanc.

We didn’t linger in Blenheim which was busy but didn’t seem particularly interesting. A supermarket shop and a brief visit to the Blenheim branch of Hunting & Fishing saw us back on the road to complete the drive to Picton.

Picton is a small town on the North coast of Marlborough and the launch pad for inter-island ferries between South and North Islands but also the set off place for most people heading for the Marlborough Sounds, our next destination.

We were to spend 5 nights on the far side of Kenepuru Sound in a chalet at St Omer Bay. The chalet was well off the beaten track and so self catering was pretty much the only option. Picton seemed a good place to stop and stock up on on groceries and other essentials for St Omer.

We were very pleasantly surprised on our arrival in the town. We had expected a pretty rough and ready port town but found our accommodation, Harbour View Motel, overlooked a very picturesque marina with tree covered hills either side. The town itself wasn’t particularly exciting but we managed to find a decent bar for a couple of beers followed by a take-away of hot cooked chicken.

The following day, 3rd February, was our only full day in Picton. We filled the morning with a decent tramp around one of the bush tracks running out of the town alongside the entrance to the harbour. In the afternoon we did a Winery Tour around Blenheim which we had arranged with the Harbour View the previous evening.

The Winery Tour took in 4 wineries with tastings at each one. This was a minibus tour with 10 or so others, a real mix of nationalities but including 3 or 4 who seemed to really know their grapes.

We have never done a wine tour before. It’s fair to say that our Driver was quite entertaining and most of the wines we tasted were top notch but we found the routine at each of the “Cellar Doors” pretty repetitive with the exception of Bladen Winery which is a family winery where our host was a family member who entertained us with stories of the highs and lows of the planting and development of a winery.

All in all we enjoyed the afternoon but it’s unlikely we will repeat!

We left Picton on 4th February agreeing that we would have been happy to stay at least one more day to see some more of the area. But the Marlborough Sounds beckoned…