Karen organised a secret mistery trip away............well it was secret until a week before we left and my little sister who was sworn to secrecy asked me what we were going to do when we got to Nelson.
Lesson learned = Anna cant keep secrets. But that was ok as I was unsure what we were to do when we got there.
After the country had a complete battering by a huge storm (the aftermath of cyclone that ripped through pacific and flattened parts of the west coast) we were unsure if we would even be able to get on the plane. We did and our adventure began. Once in Nelson we jumped on a bus and ended up in Takaka a small little town in Takaka - the weather meant swollen rivers and trees were down everywhere so our plans to go canyoning, kayaking on the Abel Tasman, walk the Heaphy Track and do a farewell tour trip were all cancelled. The first time Karen has ever been organised for a holiday, I think someone was trying to tell us something :-) We made the most of it and ended up having a great time doing our own tour visiting all the sights in Takaka including the springs, salmon farm, and doing a few walks, trying a few local craft beers, walking out onto farewell spit and then walking the abel tasman.
Waikato river from the air on our way south
After a short stop in Wellington we arrived in the sunny Nelson
TAKAKA
Living it up in our cabin in Takaka
We hired a car for a couple of days and went out to the Te Waikoropupu springs
The actual springs looked a bit shit on this day as it just rained and rained. The water itself is as clear as pure water at 63m visibility.
Ford on the road with the high streams
We made our way into the hills to do the Pupu hydro walkway track just as the sun came out
This was a nice track through some native bush that take you from the power station right up into the hills where they divert water from the stream along a channel to create the drop into the power station.
We saw several fantails in their black phase which is common in the south island. We also saw some robins and even a pair of NZ falcons land in a tree above us.
Once at the highest point in the hills there is a weir part of the stream is diverted along the cliff face through a small canal while the natural stream drops into the valley.
From walking track to boardwalk the canal even passes over manmade bridges
It is quite narrow and steep at times
Happy fantail showing off
At the end of the canal/tailrace the diverted stream shoots down a large pipe and into the power station below.
You pay by the kg and then they cook it up for you
Smaller fish ponds that are used to bring the fish up to a certain weight before they catch them to send to the shops or be released into the pools to be caught by tourists.
Our yummy fresh smoked salmon lunch
Next stop before it go dark we headed to the Rawhiti Caves
After a nice walk along the river and then up the hillside we came to this cool little cave.
Although not very big, this cave was really unique
This cave is famous for its phytokarsts where plants and calcium grow together. That is why the stalactites grow towards the lights.
The Labyrinth Rock path was full of different passages, caves and tunnels.
One of the routes
We had a trip out to the Wainui falls
Footbridge over the river
COLLINGWOOD AND FAREWELL SPIT
Next destination farewell spit
Evidence of the storm on the road out to farewell spit
We decided to do the big loop right the way out along the dune as far as your allowed to walk
Furtherest point along the spit before heading across to the northern side of the dune
We disturbed a large flock of canadian geese
Looking across towards the end of the spit
Mini mountain of sand on the spit
Kms and km of sand all the way out to the end of the spit
It was not hard to find some fossils at fossil point
We drove all the way across to Wharariki beach, one of the most stunning beaches in the country
We took the 'hill top'coastal walk from Wharariki beach to the lighthouse at Pillar Point where we left our car
It was a really spectacular walk along this rouged coastline
The arch at Cape Farewell
From the observation platform we saw seasl swimming
Looking out across farewell spit from the Pillar Point lighthouse
Shag at Collinwood estuary
Sunset over Collingwood
Pied Oyster Catches at sunset from Collingwood beach
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