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Kevin Jensen
Golden Bay
Golden Bay from Pillar Point.
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Among the many attractions are:
Westhaeven Inlet
Situated on the West Coast of the South Island, this picturesque inlet is a haven for birdlife.Just south of the inlet, the road takes you past the limestone formations at the mouths of the Paturau and Anatori Rivers before you enter the Kahurangi National Park for the walk to the old lighthouse at Kahurangi Point where you can stay in the old lighthouse keepers house.
Farewell Spit
The longest natural spit of sand in the world, about 2Km wide and stretching out for over 30Km separating the Tasman Sea from Golden Bay.Rare bird life, fossils and occasionally seals etc. can be seen here.
The whole spit is a wildlife sanctuary and public access is restricted to the shoreline for about 2km along each side of it, and for a narrow strip across the Spit where this restriction ends, however there are regular tourist trips from Collingwood by 4 wheel drive vehicles to the lighouse at the end, tides permitting.
Farewell Spit from over Tasman Bay.
Farewell Spit from Pillar Point.
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Puponga Farm Park
At the base of Farewell Spit, the Farm Park is a working farm which has many public walking tracks across it to various points of interest.One of these points, is to the Pillar Point lighthouse with its panoramic views out over the Farm Park, the northern-most coast of the South Island, and Farewell Spit. Take the gravel road from Puponga (at the base of the Spit) and you will see the 4 wheel drive track up the hill to the lighthouse - about 30 minutes walk each way.
Isolated beach below Pillar Point.
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Wharariki Beach
At the end of the road mentioned above, park your car, and take the 20 minute or so walk over the rolling hills to the coast and Wharariki Beach.This beach, like all the ones in Golden Bay, is clothes optional. There are magnificent natural sculptured cliffs and caves along the sides of this large, windswept beach, and the effects of the wind against the sand have to be seen to be believed.
Two views of the Archway Islands at Wharariki Beach.
Pilcher Point, Wharariki Beach.
Wharariki Beach, from Pillar Point.
Looking westward along Wharariki Beach.
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Bainham
Bainham is reached from Collingwood and is another entrance to the Kahurangi National Park - this one marks the beginning of the Heaphy Track, a four day tramp through to Karamea, on the West Coast.Aorere Gold Fields
On the way to Bainham, you go past the Aorere Goldfields, scene of a major goldrush in the mid 1800s.It was because of the amount of gold discoverd here that Collingwood was at one stage considered for the site of the capital city of New Zealand.Today, you can follow a lot of the old goldminer's trails and view their old workings and dams. Take a jersy as the wind here can be deceptively cold.
Collingwood
At the end of highway 60, Collingwood today has a popuation of only a few hundred in the whole surrounding area, but it is the ideal spot to sit back and relax and make your base while investigating any of the above attractions. It boasts the northern-most pub in the South Island, and is where the day trips to the end of Farewell Spit leave from (tides permitting).Pupu Springs
The Waikoropupu Springs are better known as the Pupu Springs.Located only a few minutes drive north of Takaka, they have the clearest water in the world - scientifically measured at 62 metres (anything over 25 metres visibility is considered exceptionally good).
The various walking tracks at the Springs take you past old gold workings where the miners have stacked up the boulders that got in the way, and through re-generating forest.
Pohara Beach
Another of Golden Bay's popular safe beaches, you go past this one on the way to the Abel Tasman National Park.Tarakohe
Once the site of a cement manufacturing plant, you go through here on your way through to the Abel Tasman National Park. The sheltered port is used today by some fishing boats and a growing pleasure boat fleet. Just past the wharf, you go through 'the hole in the rock' (a natural rock formation in the limestone rock) to reach the memorial to Abel Tasman, overlooking Ligar Bay (another safe swimming beach).
Abel Tasman Memorial, Golden Bay.
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Totaranui
Technically in Tasman Bay, Totaranui can only be accessed by road from Takaka. The small settlement in the heart of the Abel Tasman National Park is on the shores of a bay with a gently sloping beach of golden sand, is the headquarters for the National Park.Totaranui marks the Golden Bay end of the Coastal track from Marahau, and there is a regular bus service from there back to Takaka, and then on to Nelson.
Takaka
Takaka is the main commercial centre for Golden Bay and accordingly, has almost all of the facilities you would expect from a service centre of this type and a tourist centre. These services/facilities include an information office, a museum of local history and art gallery, and a cinema along with a small 'cafe society'.Return to the top of the page
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