Time-limited Golden Bay/ Mohua “must do” itineraries will typically feature the sands of Farewell Spit at the farthest end and the clear waters of Te Waikoropupū Springs near Tākaka. When time is less scarce, visitors can enjoy many more points of interest around Tākaka and in the adjacent bays, and more still in the Aorere Valley near Collingwood (we cover Farewell Spit/ northern points of interest separately).
Coordinates
Tākaka and coast
Southern bays include Ligar (first photo), viewed from an ugly memorial to Abel Tasman; Tata (second photo); and Wainui, looking towards Taupō Point (third photo). Wainui River is pretty (final photo), but due to track damage Wainui Falls Track was closed during our visit.
Wainui Bay is the northern gateway into Abel Tasman National Park. From the car park in Takapou Bay, Taupō Point Track leads 2.5km/ 1h across beach/ rocks to Taupō Point; we set out 1h before low tide. There’s a cave before reaching Uarau Pt (first photo), which has a high tide bypass track. The next beach has a Robinson Crusoe-like hut built under a rock archway (second photo). The point itself is a former Māori pā (third photo) although nothing remains; the beach just beyond it is special (final photo).
Taupō Point Track—being a beach walk—was also about the marine experience. We saw an eleven-armed sea star/ Coscinasterias muricata perfectly arranged (first photo). Sea lettuce/ Ulva lactuca is apparently edible seaweed (second photo), but thankfully we’d already packed snacks. Endemic toke pā/ blue tubeworm/ Spirobranchus cariniferus colonies cement themselves onto rocks (third photo). Stingrays had sculpted out feeding pits in the sand (final photo).
Tākaka is the township you reach having crossed Tākaka Hill and serves as the visitor gateway to Golden Bay/ Mohua. As for other motorhomers, for us it was a convenient base to restock food, fuel, etc. We can recommend the quirky Wholemeal Café (first photo). As with many small NZ towns there’s heritage architecture to admire (second and third photos), as well as the inevitable Kiwiana-theme mural (final photo).
Pōhara does a good line in sunsets. There are reflections to capture in the extensive sand flats exposed at low tide (first photo), and silhouettes to be made of NZ beachfront icons: cabbage tree/ tī kōuka/ Cordyline australis (second photo); flax/ harakeke/ Phormium tenax (third photo); and native toe toe—if it isn’t the similar but invasive pampas grass/ Cortaderia selloana (final photo)?
There are fossil bivalves and other shells in some of the limestone sea defences at Pōhara Beach (first photo). More recently deceased, the beach gave up spineless skeletons of the “sea potato” or heart urchin/ Echinocardium cordatum (second photo). It’s a short beach walk to the Motupipi Estuary, a tidal lagoon at the river mouth. We enjoyed a stroll beside the western basin, surrounded by salt marsh (third and final photos).
We saw the endemic purple hebe/ Veronica speciosa flowering on the roadside (first photo) during a walk to Grove Scenic Reserve at Clifton. Featured here are limestone formations, through which a 1km path meanders; there are also nīkau palms and thick vine-like northern rātā roots to admire. A lookout is reached via passage through giant limestone blocks (second photo); this gives views over pasture (third photo) and Motupipi Estuary (final photo).
Labyrinth Rocks Park near Tākaka proclaims itself as the “best known example of karst geology in the Southern Hemisphere”. Passages wind through limestone formations; our Tomb Raider tactic of “keep left” helped us to navigate the maze (first photo). Sometimes ducking through delicate archways was required (second and third photos). The limestone contains fossils (final photo), as well as plastic toys from the Anthropocene period.
Te Waikoropupū Springs are NZ’s largest freshwater springs, containing some of the clearest water anywhere. Māori traditions tell of a taniwha (protective guardian) and of the water’s healing properties/ ceremonial usage. Rain that fell up to 10 years previously upwells and is filtered via a marble aquifer; surface rain and the Tākaka River also contribute volume. Prohibiting any water contact helps prevent didymo (“rock snot”) and other aquatic pests from invading.
Pupu Hydo Walkway is the lesser known Pupu Valley treasure; it offers a levada-like environment you can enjoy closer to Māpua than to Madeira. For 1.7km the walk follows a 1901 gold mining water race, repurposed for electricity generation in 1929. It’s 107m down the penstock to the powerhouse (first photo). The race runs along a steep hillside and is followed by a narrow walkway or path (second and third photo). Within the powerhouse at the bottom an observation window lets visitors observe power generation (final photo). This was a 5.5km/ 1.5h loop.
Rawhiti Cave Track was unfortunately closed, due to a rockfall at the cave entrance.
Aorere Valley
There are a couple of interesting old stores in the Aorere Valley—both closed for winter. Rockville Store offers curios/ collectables (first photo). The Langford Store in Bainham (second photo) was established in 1928 specialises in… being special? It’s also a good spot for viewing the Quartz Range (third photo). The swing-bridge at Salisbury is “historic” by virtue of being absent: it was destroyed in a 2010 flood, but still has views of the Aorere River gorge (final photo).
The Heaphy Track trailhead in Kahurangi National Park is 34km from Collingwood, the last 13 of which are gravel. Flooding has wiped out a key bridge, so there’s no through route to the West Coast as of this writing. There is Aorere River access just beyond the car park (first photo). Brown River (second photo) is crossed near the first bookable hut. The track offered views to Farewell Spit—some 50km distant as the crow flies (third photo), and of snow-dusted ranges across the valley (final photo). We bailed on the Shakespeare Flat Track, as there were slips with precipitous drops and it was wet and slippery underfoot in the shadow of the valley. We walked 13km/ 4h returning to the trailhead car park.
Our abortive Shakespeare Flat Track detour was worthwhile, however, as it yielded a colony of birds nest fungus/ Nidula niveotomentosa (first and second photos), which we’d been hoping to see since learning of their existence. They are quite tiny (4–6mm) and cup-shaped; raindrops disperse the spore-containing “eggs” or peridioles. Back on the Heaphy Track, we then came across Cortinarius beeverorum (third and final photos). The fruiting body is somewhat like a 25mm sticky orange truffle; we saw three specimens under beech trees, and also purple pouch fungus.
The chorus of Fred Dagg’s kiwi folksong goes “If it weren’t for your gumboots where would you be?” The devil apparently left theirs either side of road near Rockville. The Devil’s Boots are made from 34–24 million year-old limestone that has eroded into upside down gumboots. Here’s our vanship Curiosity between the toe ends for scale.
Kaituna Track in Kahurangi National Park begins on a packhorse route to abandoned gold workings (1859–1930s); there’s river access here (first photo), some piles of rock and an old shaft. The track continues to follow the river, but has suffered significant storm damage (second photo); it’s 3.8km/ 70min one-way to Kaituna Forks (third photo). The bright yellow waxgill Gliophorus chromolimoneus stood out trackside (final photo).
All that walking makes you hungry. We called at The Mussel Inn for a warm lunch by the fire and sampled the craft beer on offer (S recommends their Captain Cooker Manuka Beer).
We had also planned to visit the caves and walk through the Aorere Goldfields, however the road to them (beyond Devils Boots) was simply too rough for Curiosity.
With only three weeks remaining until the official end of winter, we were beginning to think about where we should explore next. Our first step would be to cross Tākaka Hill heading east, putting Golden Bay in the rear view mirrors.
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