nelson to golden bay

...take the scenic route with apex car rentals. Sample extract from "New Zealand Driving Holidays" guidebook Nelson to Golden Bay chapter.

A wise man once said that when you drive over the Takaka Hill, you leave all your troubles behind. In Takaka, the gateway to Golden Bay, this certainly seems to be true for here life moves to a relaxed and friendly beat, and its locals, many of whom are creative artisans, endorse strong environmental principles. In nearby Collingwood, where there are “no strangers only friends never met”, the end of the road draws nigh. Here where the mountainous Wakamarama and Burnett Ranges roll down to meet the blue-green horseshoe of Golden Bay, the world’s longest spit of sand curves into Cook Strait like an overgrown talon. Farewell Spit is one of NZ’s most important bird sanctuaries; here amongst the shifting dunes and indigenous grasses, over 90 species of native and migratory birds make their home. We spend three days exploring this unique ‘cul-de-sac’. We visit local artists and shop in boutique stores, hike in the Abel Tasman National Park, fish for salmon, visit the world’s clearest springs, gorge ourselves silly on ‘Rosy Glow’ chocolates, and take a four wheel drive tour up Farewell Spit to spy on native and migratory birds.

day three: farewell spit

Key
- Destinations
- Apex Locations

The morning dawns bright and clear for our guided expedition up Farewell Spit and we board a unique 4wd bus, which has tiered seating to guarantee everyone a good view.

En route our guide for the morning, Kersten Franke, provides a brief history of the local region from coal mining in Puponga to the Aorere goldrush of 1857, then tells us that Farewell Spit began life 6,500 years ago and lengthens by six and a half metres every year. “It’s a fragile ecosystem, so no public vehicle access is permitted,” he says, “and only four kilometres of its 35 km length may be seen on foot.”

While the Tasman Sea pounds Farewell Spit’s northern coast, its sheltered southern shores provide a safe haven for shellfish and waders. On this inner beach we spot many natives: white herons, South Island pied oyster catchers, banded dotterels and Caspian terns. As we cross the dunes to the Tasman Sea the migratory birds come out to play. There’s the Turnstone, an inquisitive bird busily examining stranded debris, who will soon be off to the Northern Hemisphere to breed on the Arctic Coast, and throngs of Eastern Bar-tailed Godwits preparing for their journey to North-eastern Siberia. “How on earth do they find the spit when they return here every year,” Bob wonders aloud.

It’s 27 km to the lighthouse along a route that the Original Farewell Spit Safari team knows well as in 1946 they began a mail run to the lighthouse, transporting supplies to the keepers and their families. “Visitors came along for the ride and so the tours began,” Kersten tells us as we disembark to look at crescent-shaped dunes rising high above blackened salt pans, before journeying on to the semiarid surrounds of the lighthouse...

Please click the link to download the full Nelson to Golden Bay scenic drive, courtesy of apex car rentals new zealand... the kiwi way

To read more extracts from our driving holiday's guidebook please click on any of the following links:

• Auckland to Bay of Islands and Northland
• Cape Reinga and the Far North
• Auckland's West Coast Beaches
• Waiheke Island
• Auckland to Whakatane and the Bay of Plenty
• East Cape and Poverty Bay
• Whakatane to Hawkes Bay
• Rotorua - Maori Culture and Adventure Activities
• Hawkes Bay to Wellington
• Wairarapa- The home of Martinborough Wine
• Wellington to New Plymouth
• New Plymouth to Auckland

• Picton to Christchurch
• Akaroa and Banks Peninsula
• Christchurch to Queenstown
• Queenstown fabulous Queenstown
• Christchurch to Dunedin
• Dunedin to Te Anau
• Stewart Island
• Fiordland to Milford Sounds
• Central Otago
• Queenstown to Greymouth
• Greymouth to Nelson
• Murchison
• Nelson to Golden Bay
• Nelson to Picton

purchase nzdh online

If you would like to purchase a copy of this stunning nz pictorial guidebook online please click here (RRP $24.95 plus postage)

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