Te Waikoropupu Springs and Wharariki Beach

Want to see the clearest water in the world? Of course! So we headed to the coast of Golden Bay. That's where the Takaka River is located, and near there you can admire the Pupu Springs.

These springs are known for their clear water and have a religious significance for the Maori, which means no swimming allowed! The horizontal visibility of the water in the middle of the spring pool was measured at 63 meters. Until 2011, this was the largest visibility in an inland body of water. However, in 2011, the lake lost its record status when a visibility of 70-80 meters was measured in the Blue Lake, also in the Tasman Region. According to Maori tradition, the water is a treasure and a sacred place for the indigenous people. So far, only a few divers have been granted permission to dive into the spring lake. The colors were really beautiful and we even spotted an eel :D

After that, we continued to Wharariki Beach. There are seals there that like to sunbathe on the rocks. You have to take a short walk to the beach, and after about 20 minutes, you're already in the midst of huge white sand dunes. In the background, you can already see the gigantic rocks rising from the sea. We already noticed in the Giant Sand Dunes how exhausting it can be to walk uphill in the sand, and it was the same here - progress was slow :D Eventually, we approached the rocks but couldn't spot any seals.

But there were a bunch of people standing there, so it must mean something! And it did. Hidden in the rocks and well camouflaged, there were at least 20 seals and seal pups. It was an incredible moment, we had never been this close to these animals before. The longer we looked into the rocks, the more seals we could see. We watched for ages as the little ones made their first, somewhat clumsy attempts to walk on land or as the adults chased each other away from their spots. It's the same everywhere :D It was amazing! We spent the whole afternoon at the beach, observing these amazing animals :)