Golden Bay is tucked away near the top corner of the South Island. It's not that far from Richmond but there is mountain to cross to get there. Nothing wrong with the road surface but its definitely got the bends. It takes about 45 mins to drive over the top and reach the valley below. Saw a couple of cyclists going up, envied them - in a way. Not enough envy to offer to pedal for them though! Definitely well worth making the drive over the Takaka Hill. A wide green valley appeared ahead of us on the other side and, after Takaka Town and Pohara, we rolled up to a magnificent sandy cove at Tata Beach. We had planned to have a picnic. We sat on a massive tree trunk washed up on the beach and prepared our spread. Missed one key ingredient though, the can opener. Who bought a tin of salmon without a ring-pull? The only downside of being at a sun kissed deserted beach is that there is nobody to borrow tools from. It is very tough being a tourist sometimes. Next stop on our day trip was the Labyrinth, a network of limestone rocks. You get to wander through a network of mini canyons filled with native bush. Kids obviously like it and have left smurfs and cuddly toys in various crevices. Not sure why, perhaps they are markers to avoid getting lost? We turned right at Tigger and right again at Dopey the dwarf and eventually got back to the car.
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| Milnthorpe Beach stretching to Collingwood |
Peculiarly, we did get lost on the drive to the Labyrinth and ended up in the local recycling centre. The Lady there said, 'you look lost'. We said, 'we are looking for the Labyrinth'. She replied 'Oh, its working then' and gave us directions. We left scratching our heads.
We headed up the coast towards Collingwood and had a wander on the massive wild beach at Milnthorpe. We topped off the afternoon with a coffee at the Mussel Inn before heading home. The Mussell Inn brews its own beers and serves good food but unfortunately we had to negotiate Takaka Hill again. That is a job best done sober, stone cold sober!
Great day out and we only scratched the surface of Golden Bay, maybe next time?
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