12./13.04. Car hiking in Tasman

The last two days we have been driving around the national parks of the region (Golden Bay and Abel Tasman). In the mornings, the weather looked very promising, but then it got cloudy again in the afternoons. Yesterday we got completely soaked. So today we first bought a stronger rain jacket model for me in Nelson (outdoor clothing is much cheaper than here, a real bargain).

Yesterday we went all the way to the northern tip to Farewell Spit. It is a 30 km long sandbank extending into the ocean. At Wharariki Beach, famous for its rocks, the rain was pounding and the sand was blowing horizontally.

Unusual were the 'Pu-Pu Springs' near Tatanka. Here, 16,000 liters of crystal-clear water bubble out of the ground per second, and you would rather think of a river than a spring. For the Maori, the spring is sacred, you are not even allowed to touch the water.

Today we visited some more beaches in Abel Tasman. However, most of them can only be reached by kayak or water taxi.

As the tides can rise up to 6 meters, you can't see the sea for stretches, but there is a lot of tidal mudflats...