Kevin's Guide to Nelson, New Zealand - Photo of Farewell Spit
Farewell Spit
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For details on points of interest, landmarks, etc., scroll down the page.
This photo was taken form the air on a cloudy day while flying to Auckland in late October 2000.
Don't despair about the weather - when I arrived in Auckland about an hour and a quarter laterer, it was considerably colder, with a very strong wind blowing (calm, hot, and
sunny in Nelson). This photo will be replaced when I get another chance to fly to Auckland, and the weather is clearer, and I am sitting on the right side of the plane, clear of the engines
for a similar shot.
Red
line
The red line traces the northern coastline of Farwell Spit. It is marked so as to make the Spit more clearly visible in this poor quality photo, and
to distinquish it from the nearby cloud banks.
1
Cape Farewell, where the Spit itself starts, and the more solid land finishes (more solid because the Spit itself is made entirely of sand).
2
The widest part of the Spit, where trees have become established (making it look like a dark patch in this photo) and a lighthouse has been
erected. Daily tours run from Collingwood to the lighthouse when the tides are right (ie, high tide is early morning/evening and not mid-day) as
there are large areas of quicksand on the Spit and parts of it are partially submerged at hight tide. To complicate things, the sand is constantly
being moved by the wind causing the firmer, safer areas for driving, to shift constantly.
Note that the Spit itself continues for several kilometres out into the sea beyond this wider area with the trees growing.
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