Day 20: Golden Bay
So, our original itinerary had allocated today for touring wineries in Marlborough – however, the scenery in this park of New Zealand is just SO BEAUTIFUL that Lindsay volunteered to forego a wine-day to keep exploring. If that doesn’t convey the amazing beauty of this country to my friends & family, I don’t know what will! So we continued driving north to Golden Bay and spent the night in Collingwood – to date, our best campground yet – check out the view from our RV!
Ocean-front campsite! #Gobycamper
We started the day with a hike at Cape Farewell on the Puponga Farm Park, where you have to drive through a guy’s farmland to reach the lookout to the stone arch. Those cows and those sheep have got it made – best view a grazing animal could wish for!
We are the only ones in the carpark – we have the whole park to ourselves! And the sheep.
Hiking along the bluff, through beautiful green pastures
Panoramic view of the arc at Puponga Farm Park
Sharing the stunning views with the locals
Our next stop was the Farewell Spit – an 25km sand dune at the northern peak of the South Island. Only 4km of the outer beach and 2.5km on the inner beach are open for walking – we covered a decent part of it, and it was gorgeous!
The interior of the spit – a protected area for birds, but also a dangerous place for whales that get beached at low tide
Exploring the sand dunes at Farewell Spit
Vast sand dunes, all to ourselves
Panoramic view of the Farewell Spit
Igor has only one thing to say about this country…
While Igor could have stayed in Golden Bay another day, we had already booked our ferry ticket to Wellington, and had to get to Picton by 8AM the next morning, so we headed back south. When we drove up Takaka Hill the night before, Igor saw signs for several attractions, so we turned off to visit them all. Unfortunately, the road to Harwoods Hole (the largest sinkhole in the Southern Hemisphere) did not allow campervans, but we paid a visit the Ngarua Caves as well as the Te Waikoropupu (AKA “Pupu”) Springs – the largest freshwater spring in New Zealand, with crystal-clear water.
Clear blue waters of Pupu Springs
Admiring the cave formations at Ngarua Caves
Stalactites & stalagmites (Top & Bottom)
Igor emerging from the Ngarua Cave
We reached Havelock, the beginning of the famed Queen Charlotte Drive, just after sunset. While we had time to reach Picton before dark, we decided to camp out for the night and get up super early, hoping for beautiful views of one of the world’s most scenic roads – crossing our fingers for good weather in the morning!