South Island’s tip: what makes it tick
You don’t have to head too far south to discover the charms of the Mainland. Pamela Wade discovers some of the attractions that make Tasman the ideal base for your next adventure.
The north of the South Island is full of adventure, gorgeous scenery and delicious food and wine. Here are just four of the many reasons to make the area the destination for your next holiday.
Tasman’s Great Taste Trail
This is an appealing cycle loop trail that runs mostly off-road between Nelson and Kaiteriteri, along the coast with an inland return. The bulk of it is grade 1 and 2 – and long sections are almost completely flat – so it’s attractive even to noncyclists, especially since it links some of Tasman’s best places to eat and drink. The total length is 175 kilometres, but you can choose just one section.
Nelson to Mapua, for instance, is only 35km, which equates to around three hours of pedalling, not counting stops.
Leaving the city centre, there are suburbs to negotiate and the motorway running alongside for a while, but then you’re off on your own, following the edge of the Waimea Estuary. There are shorebirds, boardwalks, long bridges – including a swing bridge, paddocks, wetlands, and stopbanks. The route takes you out to Rabbit Island and along its length to where the ferry, which is all set up for bikes, comes to transport you across to Mapua Wharf’s eateries and art galleries.
Why go?
Because what could be better than skimming along a trail away from cars, with the sea on one side, paddocks and hills on the other, listening to the birdsong and working up an honest appetite?
Going at pedal speed, you notice so much more and you can stop and start when you like. It’s not called the Great Taste Trail for nothing, either: there are cafes and restaurants, fruit stalls, craft breweries, and vineyards at regular intervals, including many artisan producers of arts and crafts, as well as food and drink. The full route takes three days and there are some lovely accommodation options along the way.
Insider tip
If you’re not a cyclist, the trail is perfectly walkable. If you like things that are dark and spooky, seek out Spooners Rail Tunnel on the trail, inland from Wakefield. It’s 1352 metres of cool, damp, echoing blackness, hand-dug in 1891.
The Belgrove Tavern at its northern end makes for a welcome reward.
On the way/nearby
Study your map and consider detours to nearby places such as McCashin’s Brewery at Stoke. You can tour the factory and have a tasting of its beers and ciders.
Eyebright The Country Store at Appleby has lots of pretty things to look at, including a guinea pig village. You’ll find Rabbit Island has been appropriately named. There’s also plenty to please the eye and taste buds at Mapua Wharf.
How much?
The route is free, naturally. There are several bike hire places, which offer varied options for selfguided tours, including shuttle services and bike pick-ups. For example, Nelson Cycle Hire offers a one-day Mapua tour, which includes the ferry ticket and pick-up for return to Nelson.
Best time to go
Any fine day, though some places close for winter, so check ahead. tasman.govt.nz/my-region/ recreation/walking-and-cycling/tasmans-greattaste-trail.
Cable Bay Adventure Park
A short drive northeast from Nelson is a green valley that leads between forested hills to the sheltered, shallow waters of Rotokura/Cable Bay.
It was named for the cable connection made in 1876, linking New Zealand through Sydney to the rest of the world. The telegraph cable was later moved to Wellington, but the valley still features a cable and is a lot of fun.
At 1.5km, Cable Bay Adventure Park’s Skywire Experience is the longest flying fox in the world. Even better, four people can do it at a time, strapped into seats zooming along at up to 100kmh, 100 metres above the bush below, forwards and then, even more fun, backwards. Part of the ride is slow, too, so you can hear the birdsong and enjoy the long views.
Why go?
Because no way is that all. There’s something here for everyone. How about doing a quad bike tour? You can ride solo or take a passenger, along forest trails, across farmland, up and down hills. Too tame? Then go for a ride in the Argo, an eightwheeled all-terrain vehicle that your driver will make as wet and splashy and bumpy as you want (or as sedate).
There’s a paintball theme park, with forts, trenches, creeks and everything else for a messy battle. There’s also an archery park here: learn how to fire a bow like Lord of the Rings’ Legolas.
There are mountainbike tracks, and ebikes to hire for a more gentle pedal around the park. Kids will enjoy the toys, messing about in the river, or feeding the farm animals and eels. And everyone will appreciate the licensed cafe: wood-fired pizzas are a Friday and Saturday specialty.
Insider tip
If it’s the Skywire and horse trek that rock your boat, they’re available as a combo: ride up to the flying fox, go for a whirl, then continue your ride.
On the way/nearby
Carry on down Cable Bay Rd and you’ll get to the causeway across to Pepin Island. You can swim and go kayaking, or maybe do the Cable Bay Walkway: about three hours along the coast oneway to Glenduan, with impressive views en route.
How much?
Prices from $25 for two hours of paintball, up to $185 for the 150-minute, 14km Quad Bike Tour. The Skywire alone is $105 an adult, $75 a child, and $295 for a family of four. Open daily.
Best time to go
Choose a calm day for the Skywire: it’s weatherdependent. Or if you’re an Argo-naut, you might want recent rain for splashy mud. Reserve ahead for paintball. See cablebayadventurepark.com.
Wharariki Beach
This is a screensaver classic: a long, open beach where blue sea foams white on to sparkling sand, framed by sculpted cliffs with, as its focal point, a set of pierced islands.
Although word is getting out, often there’s noone else to be seen there, unless you count the colony of fur seals playing in the rock pools.
Wharariki Beach, at the northernmost tip of the South Island’s west coast, is famously remote, rugged and spectacular, and even more special for not being always accessible.
Why go?
Because it’s such a splendid day out. A half-hour
drive from Collingwood takes you to the car park by the campsite. From there, it’s a brisk 20-minute walk across neatly-nibbled farmland, through bush, then over ridged sand dunes to get to the sea.
There, you’ll find a wide expanse of fine white sand full of golden sparkles, and not one footprint. That’s as much because of the wind as the remoteness: the sand is always on the move, and even stings a bit on bare skin on a gusty day.
First, you’ll notice the unimaginatively-named Archway Islands and the rock stacks, close to the beach and sculpted by the restless sea into satisfyingly artistic shapes.
Look closer and find fur seals – baby ones in late-summer – in the rock pools, and maybe even a leopard seal snoozing in a shady cave. Look closer still, and you’ll see the sandstone cliffs are layered with conglomerations of rounded pebbles, some of them marble.
The wind has been hard at work as a sculptor, too: behind the beach are matted thickets of bent and stunted ma¯ nuka and grasses, forming permanent waves of vegetation. Everywhere you look there is a natural glory to admire and interact with: paddling in the stream and rock pools, poking into the caves, making driftwood sculptures, running and jumping down the huge dunes.
Even if you’re not alone, the beach is big enough for everyone to have their space.
Insider tip
Keep an eye on the tide. You don’t want to be caught out, getting trapped at the end. And don’t even think about swimming there: the waves are fierce and the rips powerful.
On the way/nearby
You can go on a horse trek nearby, and there are walking and mountain-biking tracks in the area. Cape Farewell is accessible by track or road, and well worth the effort for its spectacular views.
Farewell Spit is in the area, too, although you’re allowed to walk only a short distance along it by yourself. To get to the tip, book an organised tour.
How much?
Access to the beach is free, but it will be hard not to call into the Archway Cafe back by the carpark for coffee, cake – and peacocks.
Best time to go
Always at low tide. Sunsets can be magnificent. And, if it’s exfoliation you’re after, on a windy day.
Queen Charlotte Track
This is Abel Tasman’s quiet sister. Word has spread around the world about the glories of walking in that fabulous national park – the bush, the birds, the golden beaches, that turquoise sea.
In the Marlborough Sounds, though, you can spend between one day and five following the 71km Queen Charlotte Track where, apart from the occasional inter-island ferry gliding past, you’ll have similar scenery much more to yourself.
Why go?
It’s not only beautiful, it’s entirely do-able for anyone reasonably fit. There are hills, but nothing too daunting; and long days, but comforts at night.
Choose to do as much, or as little, of the track as you like, with water taxis a phone call away.
And all along the route are gorgeous views over the Sounds, into secluded little bays and, on a clear day, from the Kaiko¯ ura Ranges to Kapiti Island. The birds are melodious, the bush lush with ferns, beech and tawa, and there’s even history there.
A popular one-day walk starts at Meretoto/Ship Cove, where a monument marks Captain Cook’s favourite place to anchor, and features a cannon from the Endeavour.
This first 15km section of the track begins with a steepish climb to a lookout and then winds down to Resolution Bay, gently undulating on to Endeavour Inlet, where there are accommodation options in idyllic locations.
How about rewarding yourself with a mulled wine at cosy Furneaux Lodge?
Insider tip
Keep your wits about you: it’s entirely possible to round a bend and find yourself eye to startled eye with a couple of deer. If you don’t want to carry your big pack, water taxis will deliver it for you to your next stop. There will be sandflies.
On the way/nearby
An optional extra en route to Ship Cove is a stop-off at Motuara Island Bird Sanctuary. You’ll spend an hour on the island, walking up to the lookout, past a memorial marking Cook’s claiming British sovereignty there over the South Island.
No-one has told the birds, who think it’s all theirs, especially the little blue penguins in their nest boxes along the track. Weka, bellbirds, tu¯ ı¯, tı¯eke, and robins are other species enjoying this pest-free environment and not being shy about it.
How much?
Three ferry companies offer a variety of transport options to and from the track, from $71 for a oneway trip with Beachcomber Cruises to Ship Cove. If you walk the whole track, you’ll need to buy the $25 QCTLT pass to cross the private land.
Best time to go
The track is open year-round. See qctrack.co.nz.