Blogs from Golden Bay, Nelson Region, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

After the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk we went further North-west to visit the beautiful quiet area of Golden bay where we based ourselves in a place called Takaka. There we visited Ngarua Cave which had amazing limestone formations Id never seen before! It was really cool. They were really interesting I never expected it to be that good.- a hidden gem. Next we visited Pupu Springs which boast to have the clearest water in all of nz. It was weird the clarity of the water is so clear it appears alot less deeper than it actually is. The clarity deceives the how deep it actually is. There is also a section named 'Dancing Sands' that kickes up sand on the river bed naturally. ??? it really weird - It explains that there is a network of ... read more

Last "weekend" (on my days off) I went to Collingwood (the last tiny beach town in Golden Bay) and house sat with my friend Jennie at a woman named Allison's beautiful beach house. We invited two other traveling women friends of ours and so there were four girls together and it was just the most fun! The house itself was what I would love my house to be like someday. There were huge windows looking out to the sea, an overgrown garden full of herbs and flowers and a lemon tree. There were chickens and a pet goat and a dog that was so friendly even I had to like her. Jennie and I were both from the states but Sophie was from England and Angela was from Germany so we cooked wonderful international meals together ... read more

This was one of those great days that I have been dreaming about while traveling. A spirited and bright new friend (Jennie, 23 from Ohio) and I spent the day making our way to the Farewell spit (about 50 km from Golden Bay where I am staying). The Farewell spit is the northern most tip of the south island and for some reason, being there made me feel like I was actually on the edge of the earth. Jennie was great and different company and a change of pace from many other more similar minded travelers I have met. We went to a gorgeous beach in hopes of finding seals (as described in my Lonely Planet) but the tide was already coming in so we were left with the beauty of a seculded beach and limestone ... read more

After leaving Able Tasman we headed evern farther north to Golden Bay. Is a very small grouping of towns and very arts and craft esk. We drove up to Collingwood and stayed at a Backpackers (Hostel) which was the first one I have stayed at and I was the best one I have stayed at since. It was run by this older man who made us fresh bread in the morning and had a great view of the town and the bay. Once we got there it also started to rain too. The next morning we went north from Collingwood and went to Warariki Beach which is "the best beach on the south island" but it was raining and windy so sand was everywhere but I had to go see it since I wasn't going to ... read more

Our wonderful secluded bach on the beach What to say? Warm, sunny, alone on a remote beach we had to do what we liked. We kayaked, collected cockles and ate them, catered for ourselves with amazing sunsets. Amazing sunrises with similar for the new moon - an August moon for us. Three days of bliss. (Although the weather was custard for the middle day allowing us to explore in our rented car up to Farewell Spit and the usual touristy things. Lovely. (Photos later)... read more