Full Day in Golden Bay

After finishing the Abel Tasman Hike, we stayed overnight at a hostel in Golden Bay called Shambhala. It was a great little spot with cool decorations and a yoga studio overlooking the ocean... Pretty sweet. The next morning, we drove out to Farewell Spit, a place where the pilot whales continuously get stranded and receive help from strong volunteers. Beth checked out the spit and the sheep with the big binoculars. We ended up driving to the most northernly point on the South Island. I can't remember the name of the place, but from the parking lot, Beth and I set out on the wrong path to the beach... In the photo below, we're trying to make new friends. Where is this beach? Where are the other people? Oh, just over the hill and through the sheep field, we found the sweetest beach! I had a quick beach pee, and Beth thought it would be funny to record this event, so I might as well post it here on the blog. A seagull was eying up our lunch... Nice try. A big seal was hanging out on a rock right where we passed, and we didn't see him at first. He was sunning himself, and when he found out I was photographing him, he posed quite nicely. When we got back to the parking lot, we found the REAL trail and decided to find out where it went... Two hikes in one! REAL trail destination: big, expansive, flat beach with some cool rock formations and caves. After our double hike, we drove south to Pupu Springs, which is pronounced 'poo-poo' but it is the cleanest spring water in the world. So much so, that there was a park warden guarding the springs so that no one could contaminate it. Apparently, there is a big scare that a certain algae will get in the springs and create big clumps of orange goo. We asked the warden about the algae and she said it was from Canada.... Um, yeah, we're from Canada. No, nope, we haven't seen that kind of algae before..... On the way to another hike, we stopped in Takaka for some stellar ice cream. Ooooh boy, it was good. Our last little walk of the day was to Wainui Falls. Here are some photos of the short hike: All the postings from today have described the stuff we crammed into the past week. Happy reading...