Blog #22 – Golden Bay – Dec 20th – 29th, 2010

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Blog #22 – Golden Bay – Dec 20th – 29th, 2010
On December 20 we headed off to the Golden Bay, the most north and westerly part of the South Island. We drove through beautiful vinyard and orchard country. We had noted before that high hedges often served as windbreaks, and when we began to climb Takaka hill we had a great view looking down and saw the land stretched out like a patch work quilt. We also saw the trucks descending in their lowest gears….the trip from Nelson to Golden Bay was only about 50 km, but it took 2 hours to complete.

At the height of the land the landscape began to be peppered with rocky outcroppings. These turned out to be marble, and we visited the Nguara Caves where we saw the limestone formations underground. Note the jaunty blue hard hats. We descended down into the Golden Bay area which turned out to include rocky coastline, pastoral farmland, mixed palm and polycarp forests, mountains, and rivers. The Abel Tasman Track forms the eastern boundary of the area…with the Tasman Sea to the east, and the Golden Bay to the north. Some of the high tides were quite vigorous as you can see by the one photo!

The ‘bach’ or beach house on Tata Beach that we had rented for the Christmas period was well furnished, airy and had great views. I enjoyed seeing the congregations of gulls who regularly met on our neighbour’s roof. There was great suntanning on the deck, or when it was too windy there, down in the protected courtyard. We took sunset walks on the beach when the long light made fabulous shadows.

On our second day there, Jim and I drove back to Nelson to get Susan from the airport. The morning trip back over the Takaka Hill was once again stormy and the road was overflowing with water, and it was amazing to me that by the afternoon most of the runoff ditches were already dry.

As everywhere in New Zealand, there were lots of great walks in the area. The recent rains had swollen the volume of all the rivers and water falls, so we took a walk up Wainui Falls track to see the river in full spate. The girls scampered ahead and found trees and rocks to climb as well as the trail. Susan and Carole had lots of news to share so they doddled along talking non stop and brought up the rear. A swing bridge added a bit of excitement for those of us who don’t have a good head for heights. The next morning Emily and Jim ate the lovely breakfast Rachel had prepared for them (muffins and fruit) and then took a hike along Wainui Bay – sometimes on the sand, othertimes up on the bluff.

Another nice walk was to The Grove. Set in the middle of rolling farmland was a grove of huge native trees growing within a collection of large boulders. Because the boulders were too big to move the land had been set aside as a Scenic Reserve, and protected from the ever axe happy farmers by the boulders, the stand of native trees had grown much bigger than any others we saw in the area. Emily is helping keep the rocks in place so the path won’t be squeezed in!

One rainy day we decided to have a gallery tour, and we drove along the whole length of the bay to Farewell Spit, stopping in galleries and craft shops as they caught our fancy. We also had a meal at the famous Mussel Inn. At Farewell Spit there is a vast low-tide salt water marsh where thousands of migratory birds arrive having flown all the way from Siberia, Alaska, the Arctic – 7 days – without stopping. Other birds migrate within NZ or between there and various South Pacific islands. While Emily and Jim beachcombed and climbed on the sanddunes I tried photographing the swans, oystercatchers, herons and other shore birds all feeding together. After we got home that night the heavens really opened and we had a full fledged storm, leaving the patio doors and plexiglass fence of the deck covered with salty streaks….. even beach living has its downside I guess.

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