Golden Bay and Nelson

We traveled on to Golden Bay on the top of the South Island.  We’ve been here other years, and had to go back.  We enjoy staying at the Innlet, an old farm-type house now set up as a backpackers’ hostel and lodge.  Owners Jonathan and Katie live next door up the hill, but share tea and stories every day with the visitors.  There are glowworms on their driveway and starry skies at night.

We walked Farewell Spit, going out on the Tasman Sea side and returning to the bay side – it was an adventure!  We were blown along by powerful winds.  And then… remember those old cowboy TV shows where some poor soul gets trapped in quicksand?  Well, this year Paul stepped into quicksand and sunk in above his knees.  Cindy offered a hand to pull him out but only after she snapped a couple photos.

High winds on Farewell Spit outer beach - hang onto your hat!

Difficult to tell what's firm sand and what's quicksand until you've stepped in it...

Paul: "Isn't the priority to help me out of the quicksand and then take photos?"

Cindy: "We'll take photos after you're out too"

We found our way over to the bay side of the spit around rain pools between the sand dunes.  We walked back along the beach, but the wind never died down, so we felt sandblasted by the end of the hike.

Dunes and water in the middle of Farewell Spit

Whale bone on beach

The next day we hiked through the Aorere gold fields area to two caves.  Stanton’s Cave was smaller and slanted downhill quickly, but was fun for Paul to explore.  Ballroom Cave (supposedly the site of dance events for the miners in the past) was quite large and open.  Both had many stalactites, though some had broken off and fallen to the floor.

Stalactites inside Ballroom Cave

Looking out from inside Stanton's Cave

Inquisitive locals on the hike out

 We celebrated the end of our hike by stopping at the Rosy Glow chocolate shop in Collingwood.

We planned to go to a concert on Saturday night at the Mussel Inn, a well-known microbrewery, bar and restaurant along the highway between Takaka and Collingwood, but the band cancelled because of earthquake-related road closures.  We were fortunate to buy the last available tickets to a Sunday concert by two Nova Scotia musicians at a venue called the Octagon, part of a private property near the beach town of Paton’s Rock.  Chris Norman on flute and David Greenberg on violin were joined by twenty-year old local musician Rennie Pearson, who has been studying with Chris Norman for ten years.  The Octagon property with house, two octagonal buildings and land is for sale for 2.25 million NZD if you know of anyone who might be interested.

Octagon ceiling

Chris Norman, David Greenberg, and Rennie Pearson performing at the Octagon

We returned to Nelson for a few days before ending our travels.  We walked to Brook Waimarama Sanctuary, where local volunteers and park staff have recently completed a predator-free fence.  We ate at East Street, one of our favorite vegetarian restaurants, and Paul got to play on a street piano outside the Nelson Provincial Museum.  We also visited the mid-week market in Nelson, where it was strange to see Santa Claus, fresh strawberries, and Christmas trees at the same time.

Fencing to ensure predator-free area at Brook Waimarama Sanctuary

Paul talking to one of the staff at the sanctuary

Kereru (New Zealand wood pigeons)

Good food at the East Street Vegetarian Cafe in Nelson

Paul playing the street piano in Nelson

We had tickets to return to Christchurch on the Coastal Pacific train from Picton, but that train can’t run now as the track and tunnels are closed for at least a year due to earthquake damage.  We booked a flight from Nelson to Christchurch instead, and enjoyed seeing the South Island from the air.

The Southern Alps from the air

We're flying home today - we'll have one more post with a few final thoughts on this trip to New Zealand.