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There aren't many places in New Zealand that would make you question your choice to live in Wanaka, but Golden Bay certainly did. Warm, sunny, and above all, cheap, Golden Bay caught my attention as a place where I could live comfortably. I'm not sure I'm hippie enough to fit local standards, but more on that in a moment.
After completing the Hippie Track outside Takaka, we took a shuttle from Golden Bay Air to the airport and rented a car. These are the people who organize the logistics and flights around the region. Takaka is about a million miles from Wanaka and would require $500 worth of petrol, so when I heard you could rent a car there, I thought it would be a great opportunity to finally explore a part of New Zealand I rarely visit. I thought.
Let me preface this by saying that the term “airport” is a stretch. It's an office with a small runway, I can't remember if it was paved or not. This is a small plane flight. It's really chill and easy and exactly what you want on vacation. The car was an old Honda that looked like it could be taken anywhere. I rolled down the window and headed towards Takaka. The salty warm air reminded me that I was in heaven. A place where you know everyone knows each other's names. And the same goes for all their businesses. really good!
The first thing you need to know about Golden Bay is that it feels like you've stepped back into the 90s. This makes sense because the rest of New Zealand also feels like we've stepped back in time.
There are fruit stands with boxes of honesty on every few streets, and no one is in a hurry to do anything. It feels really good. Golden Bay is the highest point of the South Island. This is one of New Zealand's sunniest regions and home to epic independent growers and farms. In fact, most of the South Island's summits are like that. I am writing this because I have a centimeter thick coating of frost. Electricity bills are in the triple digits. Why Wanaka, why?!
Golden Bay is a large bay that stretches from the top of Abel Tasman National Park to Farewell Spit, a 26km long sandbar. It forms an almost perfect “C” shape and is one of the most remote places you can go in New Zealand. You have to want to go there; There is nowhere to go.
The only time I've been to Golden Bay was during a mass whale stranding due to Project Jonah. Farewell Spit is an area where many whale strandings (usually large-scale strandings caused by bottlenose whales) occur. Seven years ago there was a huge whale population of over 400 whales. We don't know why they ran aground here, but there are various theories that center around the fact that there is a very gentle slope of sand around a spit with huge tidal currents and deep water on the other side. Whatever the reason, it is a whale death trap.
You all know this is a topic that has been close to my heart since I discovered a stranded whale off Rakiura/Stewart Island a few years ago. It is this fear of memory that has helped shape my work and inspired me to focus much more on conservation, especially around marine mammals.
It's a fucking mess, I know. But I was very happy to be in Golden Bay and not be around dead or dying whales. Win-win!
Takaka is an hour from Motueka on the coast and the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park. But to get there you have to drive over the mountain. Golden Bay and Takaka remain relatively isolated, mostly because they are a huge pain to drive through. Lovingly named Takaka Hill (New Zealand is adept at naming and minimizing things at the same time), it has hundreds of very sharp turns and steep slopes. Zoom zoom!
But honestly, it's okay. There are guardrails and numerous starting and overtaking options. I wish the Crown Range, a similar mountain road connecting Wanaka and Queenstown, had this feature. There are virtually no safe passing zones, so this usually means you're stuck behind a tourist in a campervan traveling 50km or less over the speed limit, and you don't pull over to let the 20 cars in line behind you pass. God, this is so annoying.
But I digress. A storm damaged the road a few years ago and for the longest time (4 years!!) there was a long section down to one lane so you had to wait forever at the lights to get there. One local resident erected a huge sign next to it counting the number of days road construction had taken place. I have to be honest. I really like the little fights against bureaucracy.
But as the locals say, this is just a hill. Get over it.
Let me tell you a little secret. It's definitely worth the drive out to explore Golden Bay. Alternatively, fly from around Heaphy with Wellington or Golden Bay Air. It's a special place that still feels local and chill.
After 4 days of tramping I decided to stay in Takaka for 3 days in Bach by the sea. There I relaxed, ate a huge amount of fried food, and showered for an hour. sigh. If you've been in the woods for a few days, there's nothing better than a hot, fatty meal and a long shower.
The next few nights, I stayed at Rustic ReTreet, a relatively new Canopy Camping glamping site just outside Takaka. Spoiler alert – it was like stepping into a fairy tale. I love staying in these kinds of spaces for many reasons. Unique, cozy and beautiful, it is basically a destination in itself. You can stay there and be perfectly satisfied.
As a home traveler, I can see why this place is so attractive to me and many others. This is why this place is so popular.
I sighed towards the entrance to Rustic Retreat and felt my breath leave my body.
Ten minutes from Takaka, I felt like I had set foot in the Shire as I followed a narrow backcountry road through picturesque farmland. various locations lord of the rings A movie was filmed in this area. It was idyllic and beautiful, with soft forests, pretty cows, and fruit trees everywhere, making me feel nostalgic. Not that I grew up with that stuff, but I'll run with it.
Rustic ReTreet has a treehouse feel, but is geared towards adults. Set in a small space away from the main building, it is completely private and quiet.
Perched on a wooden platform at the edge of an oak forest, you will be surrounded by nature. It is owned by the wonderful owners, Janine and Simon, who built it themselves using timber and other repurposed materials from their own land. Talent. I'm having a hard time assembling IKEA furniture (although, in my defense, it involves a lot of steps).
There is a main house with a bedroom next to the lounge with a reading nook by the window. As a girl who loves books, I will always find a nice spot by the window to read a book. There is another building overlooking the forest with an outdoor kitchen on one side and an outdoor bathroom on the other.
Above this is a small, secret second bedroom with two single beds and surrounded by books. It's perfect for kids, but adults can totally adapt to it too. As someone who likes to be cozy and bundled up, I could have easily stayed there and been happy as a clam.
The deck features a hidden bathtub, and the grounds are decorated with thoughtful touches and artwork. It feels completely like home. I didn't want to leave. But the weather was so nice that I knew I had to get out and explore this area. After telling a big lie, of course. ruin your morning
The Nelson-Tasman region, especially around Kahurangi National Park, is home to caves. There is a heap. The longest and deepest cave is here, but why on earth anyone would want to go into that cave is beyond me. Nothing good can come from the depths of the Earth.
I have done tourist caving all over the place, including around Waitomo Caves in the North Island and on the west coast around Karamea (the other end of the hippie track). New Zealand is famous for blackwater rafting. This is you floating in an inner tube that takes you through a scary cave system with different levels. Definitely two fun types to enter.
I spent a lot of time there taking pictures of fireflies (difficult). After a few hours in the dark, you start to go a little crazy. I'm not sure how a proper spelunker does it, but Golden Bay has many caves with varying levels of accessibility. There are many baby caves accessible to tourists.
Down the road from the Rustic ReTreet, past paddocks and along a dusty path to the Rawhiti Caves. It was a fitting grunt that made its way up to the cave entrance. It was a little creepy because I was the only one there. Not much goes into the cave. It has an amazing stalactite-covered entrance with a stunning observation deck.
With some daylight left I drove to Puponga near Farewell Spit and visited the very famous Wharariki Beach. I can't believe I've never been here. Or I don't remember.
I heard it's one of the screensavers for Windows 10. I haven't used Microsoft since high school. There are several rocky islands, one of which has a spectacular arch resembling an elephant. I think you can often see a wonderful reflection of the island in the waves depending on the wind and current.
When I went there, it was a strong and howling wind, but it was beautiful. The beach is wide and surrounded by sand dunes. Backlit at sunset, watching the sand fly across the dunes was as mesmerizing as it sparkled. movie <듄>Very similar to . The highlight for me was several seal pups playing in the tide pools. I love watching them scribble. It's really cute.
On the way back to Takaka, we stopped at the Mussel Inn for dinner. Folks, this place is legendary. Off the beaten track is the beautiful Macrocarpa wooden building with a large moonlit outdoor space for music performances. I sat by the fire with one of their home brewed beers and a big old pile of green lipped mussels. Yum Yum. It was quite quiet as it was off season, but they ran out on the piano to sing. It was really awesome.
Last morning, we had a delicious brunch at Takaka and then headed to Te Waikoropupu Hot Springs. This is the largest cold water spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Pupū Springs are truly amazing and home to some of the clearest water on Earth. Spring water visibility can reach up to 81 meters, making it the closest you can get to pure water.
Local Maori consider the spring a taonga (treasure). No one is allowed to touch or enter the water. A nice, easy track goes around a spring. It's pretty amazing. Blue is unreal.
Before we knew it, it was time to go to the airport and take the plane back to Karamea. There were four of us on Golden Bay Air's comfortable, small plane. The flight time to Karamea, where we left the car a week ago when we started the Heaphy Track, was about 30 minutes. Much better than driving 7 hours between the start and end of the track. But I then drove 10 hours back home to Wanaka. take a sigh
The further south we drove, the colder the outside temperature became. Maybe I should have stayed a little longer in glorious Golden Bay.
Many thanks to Golden Bay Air for helping with shipping costs. As always, I'm keeping it real. As if you expect less from me!