Self Drive to Golden Bay 3: Sunset watching at Pohara Beach, Takaka

sambung from previous posting

After our coffee break at the cafe in Takaka, we went to Pohara Beach - atas suggestion the cafe owner. We looked it up kat map kitorang and look for direction. it is about 10km from Takaka township ..and masa kami pergi tu memangdah nak sunset ...it is quite a pleasant drive sebab the sun was finally up ...the whole day pagi tu we were actually spending time in a pretty soggy weather ...gambar pun tak lawa sebab kelam ...tiada langit biruuuuuuu

pantai dia sangat panjang ...and when we arrived air dah nak pasang ...so air dekat dengan tebingan ..sebab kalau air surut ..at low tide, it is such a wide low lying area ....ahead from this beach is another beach called Liger Bay ...kami takde masa at the time, so tak gi Liger Bay ...

the view memang sangat sangat cantik ...matahari baru nak set at the time ..we stopped quickly at the designated car park and just spent time there ...playing along the water edge ...posing sakan ..and just admired the view ...there was only one other guy there - walking his dog ..so, it was like we were at our own beach :-) the beauty of jalan jalan when it was winter!

areas around Pohara Beach nie banyak rumah org kaya ...their holiday homes, their summer baches ...and kat sini pun banyak gak le holiday bach untuk disewa ...maybe one day I'll come back ..and rent one of the bach (angan angan salam untuk menggapai impian kata abang ngah) ...

we actually dipped our feet in the water hahaha but not for long ..nak mampus punya sejuk!!!  rasa cam nak stay lama lagi kat sini but at the time we knew we still have over 1.5 hours drive back to Nelson and we still have to drive over the Takaka Hill ....it is an unfamliar road and very berliku liku so tak nak letake a risk balik in the dark ..dah le minah nie punya turn drive ...dia tak biasa drive belah kanan! She is from Germany kan, where they drive on the other side of the road hahaha ...so dengan berat ati we leave this really wonderful place ...a good ending to our Golden Bay self drive day trip ..

our drive back ....we have to drive over that hill in front there ...jalan berliku and sempit ..it is wise to take precaution drving in NZ sebab jalan dia sempit and in many places akan tetiba jadi one lane because of bridges over creeks, or stream or rivers ...the whole drive to Farewell Spit ni we encountered numerous one lane bridge ...so have to be extra careful ...and they have strict speed limit around town ...dalam kawasan town, speed limit in most cases is not more than 50km/hour ...

see that unique signpost??? hehehe only in NZ - beware of penguins crossing :-)

as it happenned, hari ujan just as we were about to start the climb over Takaka ..jenuh le Berna drive ..and it tooks us over 2 hours to reach Nelson ...lega sangat bila sampai Nelson hahaha ...

Self Drive to Golden Bay 2: Golden Bay to Farewell Spit and Pupu Spring

Dalam dok belek belek photos baru ingat yang aritu tak buat posting lagi on my Golden Bay trip hahaha bersawang giler lol pergi masa winter aritu, now summer baru ingat nak but posting! so this one is the kesinambungan from the last posting : where we drove over Takaka Hill and stopped at Hawkes Lookout (posting here). From Takaka Hill tu, I drove downhill towards Takaka town but tak singgah as we aim to go to Farewell Spit ..so only photo stops along Collingwood ajer ..we didnt detour to Marahau or Kaiteritei coz we were going there the very next day ...for our hiking trip (posting yang nie dah lama published)

a brief stopover at Collingwood

masa nie low tide and nampak the low laying area ...huge area

 stopover on the way to Popuanga ...sebab segerombolan lembu nak transfer ke ladang menghalang perjalanan kami

The original plan is to drive to Popunga and then frolicking kat sand dunes di Farewell Spit and a walk at the beach ..but weather was awful ...ujan sesaja ...so cant go to the sand dunes ...sampai kat Popunga ..we went to the cafe for lunch ....cafe tu overlooking Farewell Spit ...

 sumptous lunch ...overlooking the Spit sambil wishing we could walk there! tapi takde rezeki aritu

kalau cuaca elok, the spit is the must-visit place ..wonderful sand dunes and on that side jugak ada this really lovely beach ...we dont want to risk going there ..so, pas lepak2 lunch here, we drove back ..ati sangat berat meninggalkan tempat ini coz we felt like we missed our opportunity :-(

sand dune - takleh bawak kereta here ...perlu ikut tour or walk :-)

then on the way back to Takaka tu, we accidentally found a beach..on an off beaten track ..tak tau nama beach tu apa hahaha main masuk ajer ...and along that track banyak bach - a kiwi slang for holiday homes - and beach was empty ..kami berdua ajer kat beach at that time ...beautiful view ..hahaha nobody mandi le kan ..as it was in the thick of winter lol

from this unknown beach we went to Pupu Spring ...nama penuh is Te Waikoropupu Spring ..tapi short is Pupu Spring ajer ...tempat ni is a sacred place for the Maori ..air dia takleh disentuh ..itis actually the largest feshwater spring in NZ ...since renyai renyai masa kami sampai ..we only short cut jalan jalan kat situ ..tak follow betul betul its 1km track! hahaha ...but seriously, a very clear beautiful water! 

 entrance to the Spring 

 kami tak ikut the track ..but using shortcut ..walking 10 mins ajer :-) so takde banyak gambar the huge pond of clear water tu

only went to the river section ajer

from there we continue to Takaka town ..a small hippy town..lots of artisan shops and crafts ...the weather improved masa we reached Takaka ...matahari keluar! hahaha we decided to stop for coffee pas membeli souveniours ....sand tak sangka, we acatually went to this cafe yang owner dia sarawakian! hahaha ....org negeri aku weiiiii .....

aku tahu dia sarawakian coz of the decor lol nampak terendak melanau ka dinding kedai tu :-)

so we got talking and we mentioned yang kami nak balik to Nelson, and were disappointed coz cuaca tak best and have to cancel Farewell Spit ..she suggested kami gi lepak Pohara beach dulu before balik ...and to watch sunset kat sana ...Pohara dekat kata nya ..and dia bagi direction gi sana ...so posting for Pohara Beach and sunset watching tu nanti aku buat separate ..gambar banyak :-)

Self Drive to Golden Bay 1: Hawkes Lookout Takaka

The last few postings aku buat about my South Island holiday were about hiking ..hiking and more hiking. which was great...a new thing for me coz i am not the type who love to walk hahaha ..but honest to God, it was such a great experience ..coz some places yang aku pergi tu only accessible by walking hahaha ....

self drive to Golden Bay

but not all holiday tu aku hiking sana sini ...we also did self drive ..from our base at Nelson to Golden Bay ...we decided that a day on our own would be great and gives us ample time to stop and explore as we want to ....coz Golden Bay tu banyak attraction ..golden beaches ...Farewell Spit etc ...so rent a car (about $57 per day for a small hatchback and kalau include full insurance jadi $78 a day), and off we go ...my friend not familiar with driving on right side of the road ....and never driven an automatic hahaha so akak le yang drive mula2 (she drove back) ...and boy, jalan berliku ...naik steep hills and very sharp turns ...but views are out of this world :-) it is a scenic journey all the way ...

snow-capped Alps ...such an amazing view ...

jalan berliku serta berkabus

We took off awal ..about 9.00am hahaha awal le tu kira nya ....and berbekalkan maps and stuffs, with no concrete plans, we just head of ....the drive to Golden Bay memakan masa 1.5 hours gitu ...so we have plenty of time untuk menyinggah and explore places along the way ....but first hurdle was driving over the Takaka Hill ..jalan penuh berliku hahaha ala ala gi Cameon Highland ...and certain parts tu cam so steep ...gaung and all ..so a bit scary for me! 

hehehe am utilizing my international driving permit for the very first time!

Our first stop was at Hawkes Lookout along State Highway 60 ..between Motueka and Takaka...from the carpark, there is a short walk (approx 10mins gitu) to get to the lookout ...and from the lookout tu boleh nampak the Riwaka Valley, Motueka and Tasman Bay ...

 Tasman Bay di kejauhan

Riwaka Valley

The short walk tu melalui area with rock formation yang ada scales macam sisik naga ...black rocks ..lagenda dia kata mahluk yang menyerupai cicak giant yang makan manusia dan snaring women ...the suatu hari salah sorang perempuan yang dia tangkap tu melarikan diri and with the help of local villagers berjaya membakar mahluk tu ..and mahluk tu lari to Takaka Hill ..try to dig itself into the ground utk padamkan api kat badan nya ...and somehow the sisik yang terbakar tu bertukar menjadi batu and strewn all over the area including kat Hawkes Bay Lookout ...lagenda Moari katanya ...

 ni lah rupa mahluk cicak gergasi tu :-)

Berna sitting on the rock formation along the way ..banyak batu2 kat situ ..looks beautiful

deeper into the forest walk tu ada walkway ...ad it is pretty organised lah ..with walkways and stuffs ...but when we were there, it started hailing at first ...then snowing! Rushing kitorang keluar from the place coz we know we are on the very top of Takaka Hill and how steep and byk sekeloh the drive will be ..so balik cepat ke kereta ...and off we proceeded ..next destination Collingwood and Popunga :-)

and now ...off to Golden Bay we go :-) sambung at other posting!

Attraction in Nelson, NZ - Centre of New Zealand

Welly sejuk gila pagi nie..angin southerly dia bukan setakat mendayu dayu tapi more like menjerit2 kat luar tingkap aku nie. So, akak rasa buat posting dulu lah sebelum berkira nak kuar gi opis ...lagipun today is Friday kan ...I always treat friday as a day yang aku tak perlu ikut schedule sangat ..kalau org yang diet tu, kira my friday is my cheat day at work :-)

That last holiday tu, my friend and I actually based ourselves at Nelson. Kecik jer town nyer but it is a popular town for those yang nak explore Abel Tasman and Golden Bay ..ada gak le yang based themselves in Motueka (nearest town to Abel Tasman NAtional Park) but Nelson ni besar lagi and lots more services la...lagipun the Naked Bus yang kami ambik tu memang stop at Nelson ..so senang ...

On the second day there we decided to go up the hill to visit the Centre of New Zealand. semua orang dok recommend to go there coz from there boleh tengok pemandangan Nelson city ..panaromic view gitu ...our Backpacker owner gave us the direction ...hahaha tapi kami berdua pandai ...lupa bawak map yang dia beri kan ...pastu menonong dua dua carik haluan ....

and masa kitorang mula nak mendaki tu dah kol 4 lebih ....coz we planned to watch the sunset from the top of the hill ....mula2 memang flat jer lah jalan kan ...hahaha pastu mula lah naik sket ...hehehe sebelum naik banyak! some places are steep ...and i was feeling grumpy jugak le...like "bila nak sampai nie????" the start of point for the walk tu kat Queens Park ...then cross that rugby field ...then baru pendakian bermula ....aku pulak test kn my hiking boots masa nie ...sebab i was advised to have it "broken" before the real hiking adventure at Abel Tasman (posting terdahulu)

but the view - as i said over and over again - was really outstanding! We can see the snow-capped mountain masa nak daki bukit tu ....

kawan aku bawak camera canggih ..so boleh lle dapat gambar cam nie :-)

masa nie dah penat hahaha ...kata 20min lagi tapi tak sampai2 ponnnnnnnn ....

but when we reached the top ...it was worth it ..and we get to see the sunset jugak up there ....we reached there first ..then ada 3 org joggers joinned us ..and we ended up talking to one jogger tu - who happened to be a tourist ..and an avid mountain climber ...

that long stretch of bay di kejauhan adalah parts of Abeel Tasman National Park :-) and in between is the Tasman Sea

behind me is the Maitai Valley

This place is called the Centre of NZ ...sebab geographically, merangkumi North and South Islands, it is the centre of NZ ...according to the surveyor's map kata nya ....

 

so, been there, done that ..and can get the Centre of NZ off my NZ bucket list. Somewhere in the list is Cape Reinga - the most northwestern point kat north island pulak :-) ntah bila la tu kannnnn

We left after the sun has set ...along with Fred- that guy yang kitorang kenal masa kat sana ...and all three of us was keen to see the kauri tree ...one of the native trees of NZ and can be so big ...but disappointed le jugak ..kauri tree yang ada kat sini kecik setoet ajer ..padahal tanam in 1951 ....nevermind ...maybe i will see the most outstanding kauri tree in some other parts of NZ ...