Golden and Abel
The Golden Bay is one of those places that has a unique atmosphere, somehow aloof to the rest of the world. In the far North-West of New Zealand’s South Island the sand is golden, the sun shines a lot and people are relaxed and friendly. The area is full of stories of folks who arrived for a day or two and never left; the Dutch guy who runs the chip shop, the Canadian who’s chef at the pub and the Englishmen who run an internet cafe. There’s also a plethora of artists, environmentalists and apparently a few communes. The beaches are predominantly ‘clothing-optional’. One of the great things about this place is the way that everyone gets along, the diversity of nationalities and lifestyles somehow just creates a single, comfortable, and very proud community.
After a few days exploring the Golden Bay from the township of Takaka I headed back south and spent a day walking the coastal track in the Abel Tasman national park. Here a ‘track’ means what I’d call a ‘path’ and what I believe in North America they call a ‘trail’. It’s for walking only. Being a national park there’s no roads and the whole place is almost a wilderness so a system of water taxis can drop you off and pick you up at points along the track.
Some great photographs of the Golden Bay and the Abel Tasman walk are ready for upload to the site very soon.
