We had no real plan today except that we wanted to see the coast and views. It was pouring with rain, the cloud was low and the view of the hills wasn’t going to be great. We left Nelson and headed west along the coast to Mapua where we’d been recommended the Boatshed Café. Even in the rain and low cloud it was pretty and you could see how lovely it would be on a nice day. We had a good breakfast and coffee and then headed west again through Motueka to Kaiteriteri, on the recommendation of the waitress.

IMG_2716_resized IMG_2718_resized

Kaiteriteri (seems to be ‘Kaiteri’ to the locals) was beautiful. I have never seen sand so golden coloured. There is a walkway up the side of a hill beside the beach which gave good views. Looking away from the town.

IMG_2724_resized

Kaiteriteri’s beach. There is lots to do from here – kayaking, boat trips, walking or a mixture of the three.

IMG_2726_resized IMG_2727_resized

This was a nice photo until I noticed that Noel had grown antlers…:-)

IMG_2729_resized

We decided to drive north-west to the Golden Bay area, via State Highway 60. About a third of the way from Kaiteriteri to Takaka we stopped at a viewing point.

IMG_2733_resized IMG_2734_resized IMG_2737_resized

Eventually, we had almost got to Collingwood when we came across a loose sheep on the road who desperately wanted to rejoin his friends but didn’t know how. Luckily some others stopped who knew how to herd it.

A view from Collingwood.

IMG_2741_resized

We stopped for a drink at The Courthouse café while we worked out where to stay. There was a cute ginger kitten who loved being stroked. We each had a bottle of Chia. It’s quite a weird drink, full of Chia seeds and the texture is a bit like frogspawn but it was actually very nice and is meant to be really very good for you. At least, it should have offset the ginormous chocolate cake which NOEL ordered! 🙂

IMG_2743_resized

Did I tell you NOEL ordered the chocolate cake? 🙂 (Ok, Ok, I might have helped eat it….)

Just across the road from the café was the company running tours of Farewell Spit and we decided to go on the tour the next day. Sadly it meant a 5am start due to the tides. However, the tickets gave us a discount on eating at the Collingwood Tavern. We were impressed with both the menu choice and the food which arrived and the staff were very friendly. We sat outside beside the water and managed to finish before we were bitten too may times by flies.

IMG_2748_resized IMG_2756_resized

An early night due to the 5am start.