Abel Tasman Boat tour - Day 15

After 6 hours, we arrived back at the starting point. So we had enough time to pass State Highway 60 over Takaka Hill towards Collingwood. The former cyclone Gita had heavily affected Takaka Hill a few weeks ago, so that convoys were only allowed to pass between 7am and 8am in the morning and between 5pm and 6pm in the evening! On Sunday, cars were allowed to pass between 8am and 5pm, and luckily it was Sunday today! After the restricted section of the route, we visited Hawkes Lookout. Here you could see from the mountains to the sea.

Shortly after 7 pm and after driving on some gravel roads (thanks Google!), we arrived at the hidden accommodation 'Heaphy Haven' in the idyllic Bainham. Bainham was even smaller than a village, it felt like there was only one store (The Langford Store) that sold coffee and cake, but also had some everyday items on offer and was a museum, as well as a community center, which could best be described as a better barn. However, the accommodation was super idyllic, in farmhouse style, very friendly owners with a great family atmosphere welcomed us, there was really delicious homemade bread, it was very spacious and we were very close to the starting point of our upcoming hike. And when we went to the toilet at night, thousands of stars and the Milky Way glittered above us :)