We drove almost as far as we could to the northwest of New Zealand’s South Island to Golden Bay, named for the gold mining that took place here in the 19th century.
Our VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) cabin stood on its own, above a beach, at the end of an unpaved road.
En route, I muttered to myself “keep left, keep left” as I negotiated windy roads across a mountain that separated the area from the nearest big town, Nelson. The deal is I drive in countries that drive on the left, which is more common than you might think.
Thanks to the wonders of Google Maps, Dwight expertly identified the turnoff from the highway to the gravel road.
We had stopped at a supermarket to stock up on essentials to take us through the next few days. I was impressed by the huge, walk-in beer cooler where I grabbed a 12-pack in desperation before I would’ve succumbed to hypothermia.
Then we arrived at our cabin, “Sunrise Apartment, “ a fine place to chill out.
Over the following week we would walk the beach several times, usually seeing nobody.
The beach was different each time we walked it.
After a couple days, we were ready to venture out into the world. A few miles north of us, the town of Collingwood provided us with a place to enjoy a cuppa.
In keeping with New Zealand’s Anglo ties, the town was named after an 18th century British admiral who had absolutely no connection with the place.
Beyond Collingwood we did three day hikes.
On the Kaituna Track we walked through a subtropical forest in the footsteps of 19th century gold miners in Kahurangi National Park. It’s New Zealand’s second-largest national park, one of the least-visited, and slightly off the beaten path; a good choice for B-list travelers.
To the north of Collingwood we walked through a monotonous landscape on a sandbar, Farewell Spit. Unseen by us were big numbers: it’s the longest sandbar on Earth (16 miles); the sea recedes up to 4 miles at low tide; this month, bar-tailed godwits will migrate 7,500 miles to Alaska.
The Heaphy Track in Kahurangi National Park was our favorite hike. The trail gradually climbed up a mountain, occasionally revealing other mountains through gaps in the trees. We hiked for the day, but found ourselves wishing we could hike the full track, end-to-end, over 4 days.
Some days it rained a bit, supporting our desire to chill this week.
We prepared most of our meals, but occasionally we enjoyed the Mussel Inn, a rustic establishment about a twenty-five minute walk from our cabin. Their beer, brewed in-house, was sublime with a plate of local mussels.
Wonderful. Splendid isolation.