Road Trip part III: Takaka and Abel Tasman Natl. Park 12/14/12 - 12/17/12

From the West Coast we headed north and ended up in Takaka with plenty of time to set up and head out on a evening walk before dinner, so we went to the Rahiti Caves.  It was one of those off the beaten track walks, and after going through a few gates and driving through a privately owned pasture we started our ascent up the mountain.  It was a pretty steep climb for about 30 minutes, but it was well worth it because when we arrived to the huge cave entrance it was magnificent.  It was also cool because it felt like we were the only ones to have visited the place in about a month.  It was very remote and quite the "hidden gem".  The cave was said to be over a million years old and was full of stalactites (which were huge and colorful) and stalagmites.  

We had been wanting to kayak all through the South Island, but never found exactly what we were looking for.  However, we knew there was kayaking near Takaka in Golden Bay along the west side of Abel Tasman National Park.  So the next morning we headed to Golden Bay and rented a kayak for a half day and started our paddling in the bay/ Tasman Sea.  There were times that the sea was a bit rough and the wind strong, so it wasn't as peaceful and relaxing as we wanted, but it was still gorgeous scenery and a great day to be outside enjoying the sunshine.

That afternoon we visited Te Waikoropupu Springs, aka "Pupu" for short, right outside of Takaka.  Sounds like poo-poo, yet the spring water here was the complete opposite and famous for being the clearest water in the world (the only thing clearer is the Weddell Sea in Antarctica).  Underwater optical tests have shown the underwater visibility to be 63 meters!  It was crazy how clear the water was.

Afterwards, we continued to the most northern point on the south island and had a view of the Farewell Spit, the longest sandspit in NZ.  We also went to the nearby beach, Wharariki beach.  This beach has impressive sand dunes from the intense winds, and the erosion of the rock cliffs not far from shore is also pretty interesting.

After an easy day the next day and asking around about kayaking along the coast of the other side of Abel Tasman, we decided instead to just do a walk.  We weren't convinced that the sea waters were any calmer than the previous day.  Abel Tasman National Park consisted of beautiful, bright blue water coastlines right next to lush forests.  Our walk was a nice 3.5 hr walk along the coast 
through the forest.  After our walk, we continued our road trip north.