Loose Seals On Golden Bay (Feb. 17-19)

After sailing in Abel Tasman, we headed even farther north up to Golden Bay, a remote and relatively sparsely populated area that makes up the extreme northwest of the S. Island. From the Kiwis we’ve talked to, it seems to be inhabited mostly by hippies, alternative lifestylers, and others who are looking to get off the beaten path. We seem to be finding there are quite a few places in NZ where that’s true. Which makes sense, as NZ isn’t exactly on the most well-trod paths, globally speaking. But as so often happens, I digress.

View of Wharariki Beach

From our few days in Golden Bay, the alternativee lifestyler thing seems to ring true, as we stayed in a decidedly unusual, but very laid-back hostel between Takaka and Collingwood, Shambhala. A Belgian backpacker in Tauranga had recommended the place, and as we’ve been trying to incorporate fellow travelers’ advice into our plans, we decided to stop in. Shambhala is apparently another term for Shangri-La, and while I wouldn’t go that far in describing the place, it was pretty nice, with a wicked location set far off the highway just a minute away from the beach.

Shambhala Backpackers

As you might figure, the guy that runs the backpackers is a pretty big Buddhist devotee, offering yoga at the hostel and providing heaps of free Buddhist literature. We didn’t really go for all that, but we did find it interesting to stay someplace different. The vibe at Shambhala was pretty cool and many of the people were really friendly, and I think we got there at a good time, since most of the travelers seemed to have been there for several days and were getting along quite well. Everyone hung out, talked, drank, and went to the bar together, making it seem like a big party instead of an impersonal backpackers. A nice change.

Another bonus of Shambhala was that it was just about across the road from the Mussel Inn, a famous local bar that brews their own beer and has live music nearly every night. Their beer, particularly one called ‘Manuka’, named after a tree that thrives locally, was really pretty good, so I was alright with that. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I won’t find any really hoppy beers here on the order of an American-style IPA, which is probably a good idea since Kiwis seem to like their beer relatively subdued.

After our first night at the Mussel Inn, we decided to walk back to Shambhala rather than catch a ride with the rest of the group. Although it’s a 30 minute walk up the driveway (unpaved, of course), it allowed us to detour through a small glowworm path along the way. Glowworms are the larvae of a fungus gnat and can be seen in lots of caves and natural areas around New Zealand. Their luminescent organs produce a soft, greenish light in the dark. We had previously seen glowworms during the hangi in Rotorua, but these were nicer because they were free. It really is spectacular to be standing in a dark forest surrounded by thousands of tiny glowing lights.

On one day we stopped at Puponga Farm Park, a national park at the end of Farewell Spit. Farewell Spit is like a sandbar growing from the tip of the island stretching out into the sea more than 30km, with sands continually deposited from the sea. We did our usual few hours of walking around, finally getting to Wharariki beach. If you’re thinking, yet another windswept, lonely, gorgeous NZ beach, you would be right. What was especially cool about this beach was that we found a small pool with seal pups swimming around and playing just a few feet from us. You know that they’ll grow up to be big smelly penguin-eating seals, but when they’re small they’re cuter than puppies. Becky can now cross seals off the list of animals she has to see here, yay.

View of Farewell Spit

Andrew with the seal pups

Jean, more cute animal pictures for you!

Other cool things we saw in the area were Pupu Springs, home of the world’s clearest freshwater springs. It doesn’t show up well in pictures, but take it from me you could see right through the water there… We also visited Harwood’s Hole, which is pretty much what it sounds like, a huge hole in the ground. Unfortunately it required about a half-hour drive over unpaved roads (Sorry, Ron!) and we weren’t keen on getting too close to it to get a great picture. Although we figured why bother risking life and limb when it’s tough to say what a great picture of a hole would look like? Maybe we’ll have to read our newly-acquired Buddhist literature to get a good answer to such a question. Don’t worry, we’ll let you know if we receive any enlightenment on this topic. Until next time, grasshoppers.

Pupu Springs

Harwood's Hole