Golden Bay - Takaka & Farewell Spit
Golden Bay has more things to do then you can shake a stick at. From the tops of its mountains to the tip of Farewell Spit, Golden Bay is a must for anyone wanting a holiday that is based around an un-spoilt environment something you will find in the Kahurangi National Park. The Heaphy Track is one of its highlights starting at Collingwood and finishing near Karamea on the West Coast.
What is often appreciated most about Golden Bay, is the sense you can actually relax, and that you're well away from the pace and the stress of modern life. The real world still does exist and it's here in Golden Bay.
Getting there by car
Golden Bay in New Zealand is one of the most diverse & appealing holiday destinations. There is a high hill (Takaka Hill) on the far side of the Nelson/Tasman region before you get to Takaka and Farewell Spit, New Zealand. It's a fair haul up, and takes some 20 minutes, even in a top quality rental vehicle. Few people can help stopping at the top.
The other side of the hill is very near vertical, and 2000 feet below, a long, wide valley runs down to the sea and to Takaka and Farewell Spit New Zealand. This is Golden Bay in New Zealand. There is only the one road into Golden Bay New Zealand which demands that those who go there, go there for no other reason than to be there. It is a magical place, and can feel strangely like the end of the earth, which, in many ways, it is.
Getting there by foot via the Abel Tasman walkway
The only other access to Golden Bay is by walking - and what walks they are! Leaving from Marahau, at the edge of the Nelson/Tasman district, the Abel Tasman National Park walkway offers a relatively easy 3 day amble along beaches and well defined tracks to Totaranui Beach, some 20km by bus from Golden Bay's "commercial centre".
Over the other side of Takaka, the Heaphy Track is a rather more challenging hike that heads West and then South, and down to Karamea, a small town (pub, shop and a lodge) at the Northern-most dead end of the South Island's fabled West Coast.
It is an extraordinary place. The roads are, for the most part, very good, and little used.
Farewell Spit
From Takaka you can take a trip up Farewell Spit, the 20km long sand bar that protects Tasman Bay from the Tasman Sea, is a good place to get a feel for Golden Bay in New Zealand. The waters inside the spit are extraordinarily sheltered, and very shallow. Whale and dolphin groundings are frequent here - an event that brings the whole community out to help. It's flats and sand dunes are home to innumerable seabirds, and the 4WD expeditions that carry visitors out to the historic lighthouse and cottages at the tip of the spit give ample opportunity to appreciate these remarkable birds without disturbing them.
Food & Drink
- "The Mussel Inn" Highly recommended - on the way to Collingwood. A good Restaurant, boutique brewery and live music bar (check the schedule) all in one.
- The "Whole Meal Trading Company", Takaka
- "Milliways" in Takaka near Kahurangi National Park
Golden Bay Activities
- Fishing, both sea and river
- Caves (Rawhiti)
- Waikoropupu Springs (Pupu Springs), officially the clearest spring water in the world (and cold!)
- The Mussel Inn on a Friday and Saturday night, great night time entertainment
- Heaphy Track through Kahurangi National Park
- Cobb Dam
- Farewell Spit Safaris - Ornithologists heaven
- Westhaven Inlet, beautiful and remote
- Puponga Farm, walk over to the West Coast
- Tata beach, great for the family
- Local artists and crafts tours