Planning a 2 week trip to South Island NZ in February 2010. Need some advice on last few days. Mainly day 12&13. Family of 4 adults.
Driving north along west coast stopped overnight in Greymouth.
Day 9. Drive to Punaikaki- Walk to Punaikaki Rocks, Poporairi river track walk
Day 10. Drive to Kaiteriteri stopping at Buller Gorge Swingbridge
Day 11. Do half day walk in Able Tasman from Marahau to Torrent Bay, explore Kaiteriteri
Day 12. Leaving Kaiteriteri i would like to possibly see Farewell Spit and sleeping maybe in Takaka or Pohara Beach Top 1o caravan Park.Dont want to do organised tour of Farewell spit Is it worth the view to travel all that way. Places ive heard of in this area which sound worth seeing are Pupu springs, and Wharariki Beach. Can this all be done in 1 day?
Day 13. Leaving takaka or Pohara beach drive to Nelson and explore area.
Can any one give me advice on this part of NZ. Thanks

A trip to Golden Bay is definitely worth a visit. Although you can go to the start of the Farewell Spit I think the only way you can see it properly is to go on a tour. However I think the scenery in Golden Bay is stunning, and the Pupu Springs worth a visit. If you are not doing the Farewell Spit tour then you should have time to see it all in one day.

Hi czeozi -

The top end of the SI is a personal favorite of mine.

Farewell Spit is closed to the public other than a small area at it's base. The only way to see the entire spit is through a tour. It's open to freedom walkers only to the 4 km marker, after which it becomes private/tour access only. You can't see much on your own. Most of the outlooks are 4x4 access only. It's a fantastic tour.

You can drive to Collingwood and to the Visitor’s Center (Puponga) and walk to the beach to see some whale bones.

You can easily get to Collingwood, Puponga, Wharariki Beach (you must climb through a pasture and over a dune to get there, but it's worth it - expect lots of wind - look for seals) and Pupu Springs in a day from Takaka. All are very worthwhile.

Regarding Nelson - loads to do - wineries, breweries, arts and crafts shops - the Wearable Arts Complex and car museum, etc.

THank you nelsonian and melnq8. To get to this Wharariki beach is there a sign? i know more time needs to be spent here to see all one wants to see but 6.5 hr tour of the spit is just too long for my itinerary. So we'll leave Kaiteriteri drive up to Puponga and come back down to Takaka for the night and see what we can see along the way.

Yes, there's a sign. Take 60 through Takaka and Collingwood to Puponga, where the paved road ends. You'll see a short unsealed road that leads to the carpark for Wharariki Beach and forks off towards Cape Farewell. It's about an hour's drive from Takaka.

From the carpark you take a 15-20 minute walk across a pasture and up a hill. The beach is on the other side of the hill.

We really loved this part of NZ - a link to our blog with a few photos

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...5780/tpod.html

The best fish and chips in NZ can be found in Pohara. A nice diversion for an hour or so is to go salmon fishing at Anoki Salmon Farm on the way back to Nelson (fantastic salmon, hot smoked there and then). nfortunately, my wife now beleives all fish are that easily caught and is now considering taking up fishing as a hobby!

Thank you,Thank you Thank you all very much. Salmon farm sound a must. Just hope we have sunshine all the way.But i guess thats a lottery. What time of the year were you there crellston?

czeozi - We were in the South Island in June and the North in July. The time we spent in the Golden BaY area was at the end of June.