The sand is really of golden yellow color, super yellow, very pleasant yellow 🙂 already in Motueka side of the Tasman sea, in Kaikerikeri:
But we drove to over a high mountain range on a very windy road to the Golden Bay. I would say -we curled up, walked on some view points:
Those colorful, red fields – are not flower fields, they are apple orchards and are covered with nets from birds. Their agriculture is expensive, but neat and tidy as their lives, I guess. Here are some rocks we saw all over while going up from Motueka side:
Then we were going down to Takaka and this is how the next valley looked like:
Very similar to Raigardo Valley in Lithuania in Ciurlionis paintings! so we drive and drove paralel to the sea of which we didn’t see much form the road, but reached the magical place -Waikoropupu springs, which we have seen last time and were very impressed It is considered the purest water in the world! I read in their geographic magazine, that instead of letting people drink form them – a corporation (boy, they are evil…) is bottling them into plastics and selling abroad. I don’t know how true it is, for I just read an article, but I saw signs telling us not to even touch the water… And the water there is amazing – its abundance, its sound, its coming form the bottoms of the earth, its purity and transparency:
They have an unusualï¿‚ï¾ polishedï¿‚ï¾ greenstone by the entrance:
After not drinking the purest water, we drove further and found the best beach one can imagine (of course, after Lithuanian beaches in Neringa). Those white little things – are shells, an abundance of them. The beach and the swimming area is like in the corner, sheltered from winds, and the water gets so deep at once- ï¿‚ï¾ it is funny to get out- ï¿‚ï¾ you feel like climbing a ladder. This was the first time we swam in NZ seas in almost 4 weeks…I think it was the only time :-):
This walk to the beach was almost immersed in water when we came:
My ‘catch” 🙂 – who could ever dream to find such shells!:
And here how the walk looks like in an hour or so – the tide is going away so fast, fun to watch!
And that was almost it. This beach is between Parapara and Milnthorpe on Kendal rd. On the way back we drank some locally crafted beer in their cultural icon Mussel Inn pub close to Onekaka and back to Motueka. The road winds and goes up and down for 25 km one way. so 50 km on such a road in one day is a lot.The nextday we drove again to Kaikerikeri and from there – to see again the Split apple Rock:
This time there were many ships around it and many kayaks, a popular place. Then we drove a little further – to the beginning of Abel Tasman park – and walked the walk we have done 7 years ago:
What patters the water paints while going in and out with tides:
We walked till we reached our beloved rock, for joy for joy it is still there:
And after that we got tired and drove to Nelson some 156 km away in the same Tasman bay, ï¿‚ï¾ where we plan to stay 2 nights.