Our morning consisted of breakfast, packing up and Tegan getting penpal addresses. We debated further where our destination was for the day and then drove off headed North towards the Farewell Spit, thinking this would be a nice flat drive up and back down. Unfortunately a notoriously steep hill stood in the way of this. There was an elevation gain of over 800m and then an 800m elevation drop to reach the lands beyond. However, it was very worth it.
The little town of Takaka was among the most charming of our trip. We strolled up and down the sidewalks searching for more gifts to take home. In front of the Golden Bay Gallery was a stretch of rugby jerseys hanging on a line and the artists who created these jerseys hailed from the Collingwood Area School.
The neat thing about this was that Tegan goes to a school in Calgary named Collingwood. So, the town and school now became a point of interest for us.
After lunch and ice cream, we headed to Collingwood and managed to locate the school easy enough. We had a light stroll around the grounds, got some photos and play time in, then off again.
The slogan of the Golden Bay is "It's just a hill, get over it!" and I think it is very fitting. Every tourist should visit this part of New Zealand for the scenery, art & crafts and wildlife.
We reached the Farewell Spit, parked, packed a little snack and made our way towards the access to the shore that leads to the dunes.
The tide was high on our way out to the Farewell Spit and you can't help but walk on a walkway of shells leading you towards the sandy dunes. As we rounded the bay, I decided it would be neat to get a better viewpoint up on the dunes for photos etc.
Once up on the top the sand looked sandier on the other side and we descended down the dunes and walked our way across the Spit. I told Tegan she could slide down the dunes on her bum and she had a another 2-3 goes at it.
The scenery her is stunning and the photos we took should prove it.
We walked along the beach alone and then did some bushwhacking back to a road that got us back to the bay we were originally walking in on.
Now the tide was out and with the receded water the sea floor was left to explore. We got to play we some tiny crabs we carefully spotted. They were heavily camouflaged with wet sand and only the slightest movement set us off on there location.
On our way back we stopped into the Waikoropupu Springs, one of the largest fresh water springs in the Southern Hemisphere. It is quite an impressive sight with the emerald coloured water and green plant life growing beneath the water.
Now our plan was to make our way to the other side of the island and Kaikoura for a dolphin swim the next day. Ambitious we were as it was 4pm already and we had more than one obstacle between us and the other coast.
By 7pm we were in Nelson and there was some sort of Art Festival on in the city. We were hunting for a Sushi place, but couldn't find it. I felt under dressed for the Friday night crowd at the local pubs so walked over to a Indian restaurant and had some curry and butter chicken. It was now nearing 9pm and I had Tegan get into her PJs for a long all night drive towards Kaikoura. I am not sure what I missed on that drive... I am sure it was pretty as there were many winding hills to maneuver around in the dark. But by the time we got Blenheim it was nearing midnight and I was happy to be on a familiar highway down the coast. When I started to get tired I decided to search out the next rest area and pull over for a sleep. We were now only 1 hour from Kaikoura and the next day of adventure!
What a day.
