Welcome Back in Pohara Beach

The attentive reader of this blog will have already noticed that we drove the South Island in a figure eight and are now well on our way back, we have been on the road for almost 3 months. So there are still a few spots to visit that we left behind on the way there or to stop again where we particularly liked it.

So we were drawn to Pohara Beach in Golden Bay again because of the sunny weather forecast, where we were already a few days in early December, but the weather was very bad. We wanted to visit this beautiful place again when the weather was "appropriate" and we felt like sun and beach. And we were well granted, we had 6 days with almost only sunshine and it was rarely windy. Finally, summer weather!

But the tour from Karamea to Pohara was also good in terms of weather and there was a lot to see. The wild coastal and beach landscape at the mouth of the Mokihuini River a few kilometers north of Westport was worth seeing. Further on the way we visited the Denniston Mine, an old coal mine or rather the remains of it, which is now a landscape park. As a child of the Ruhr area, something like this is of course a must, and so we also spent 2 hours on the site with an old mining tower, foundations, tracks, trolley cars, etc. Unlike in the Ruhr area, the mining here was carried out on a mountain and the coal was transported down the hill on an adventurous steep railway.

The further journey then progressed quite quickly despite the relatively dense traffic, always along SH 6 on the Buller River, as the trucks here easily drive the allowed 100 km/h, and the truckers here are also not shy in curves. At noon, as on the way there, we stopped at Café Berlin and then reached a small but fine campsite near Murchison for an overnight stay. The next day it was not far to Pohara via the Takaka Pass.

There we enjoyed both the beach outside the door and other beaches and the landscape as a whole on small motorcycle tours. One day we exchanged the mopeds for kayaks to explore the Golden Bay north of Pohara from the boat. Here we saw many birds on the offshore islands and also some seals sunning themselves lazily on the rocks. We also went for a short hike to a rock not far from Pohara, from where we had a great view of the bay.

Particularly worth mentioning was our trip to Totaranui Bay at the northern end of Abel Tasman National Park. From Pohara you can drive to the endpoint of the multi-day hike through the national park by taking the asphalt road north to the end and then continuing on a winding gravel road to the coast. Here you are not alone, but it is not comparable to the southern end of Abel Tasman Park. And just the sight of the golden sand and turquoise sea is worth driving up here. As we have always found, the "dead ends" are often the most beautiful and spectacular destinations. We can only recommend to all New Zealand travelers not to simply drive from the area around Motueka to the south, but to turn off towards the Golden Bay via the spectacular Takaka Pass. This is where the Kiwis themselves vacation, and for good reason, so it was one of the most beautiful places on our journey for us.