We proceeded on from The Grove and Takaka, north, toward Cape Farewell, and at the end of even the graveled road, Wharariki Beach, tenting over-night at the Puponga Farm Motorcamp. (Linguistic aside, for those interested:
Wh (in the missionaries' transcription of Maori) is pronounced as a soft
f. Thus,
Wharariki is pronounced
Farariki. I think a
Whuck You T-shirt would be awesome, but the New Zealand sense of humor may not go quite that far.) We spent a cool and windy night there at the top of the South Island before heading off next morning across the grassy and wooded dunes that comprise most of this real estate.
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| En route to Wharariki; a low-tide look across Golden Bay toward Nelson |
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| Puponga Farm camp |
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| Environs...all grown-over dunes |
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Next morning on the trail, Vicki tells the sheep she is Guardian of the Flame of
Anor, and they must let her pass... |
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Walking the kilometer or so to the beach was one of the more unpleasant hikes
imaginable...you can't see it here, but it is a gale force wind that is sand-blasting
you at every step |
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| Thus (I only opened the camera a few times before we reached the beach) |
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The beach, however, particularly here at low tide, is pretty glorious, all caves
and arches and such; big ones too |
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| Big cave |
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| Cave seal |
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| One of the big arches |
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| Another |
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| Peering through |
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| And another |
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| Up closer |
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| And another |
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| Seal pups in a pool |
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| Unforgettable place |
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