Golden Bay

Last night, Hannah and I got back from our first NZ road trip to the Golden Bay area, which is the northwestern part of the South Island. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a late start due to the night before. We had ventured into Murchison on Friday night to go to the local pub with one of the guests that was staying here. He was a 28-year-old helicopter pilot for the Army so he had some pretty cool stories that he told to us over some beers at a bar full of 60 year olds dancing to Black Eyed Peas. Very interesting scene. 

Anyways, we left Saturday afternoon for our journey and took our time through the curvy roads up to Takaka. We made some stops along the way- first in Motueka where we had lunch at a Subway. Now I know you must be thinking, "Why out of all places would you stop at an American food chain for lunch instead of exploring other options?” Well, first of all, food here is very strange and, in my opinion, not very good. I can’t quite describe it but even simple things like pickles, my favorite food on the planet taste like absolute RUBBISH (NZ word for garbage). They also don’t have Mexican style food anywhere (at least anywhere near us), which is a huge culture shock because that was all that we ate this summer at the 4UR. And don't even get me started on NZ ketchup, or “tomato sauce” as they call it. Yuck. Anyways, they don’t sell turkey lunch meat anywhere here so when we saw a sign for a turkey 6-inch subway sandwich, we couldn’t resist. 

Next, we stopped at Kaiteriteri beach, which is a beautiful small beach on the Tasman Bay where everyone was out and about sea kayaking and wind surfing. The water was a beautiful, turquoise blue and unlike any other water I’ve seen. Definitely going to go back there later in the summer (hopefully with our guy friends that are coming in January) to do some kayaking ourselves. We would have stayed longer but we were anxious to get to our final destination before it got too late.

Kaiteriteri Beach

Pupu Springs

The drive along the coast was unbelievable and we couldn't help but stop at every lookout on the side of the road. When we arrived in Takaka, we began our search for a place to stay for the night. While we were looking, we saw a sign for Pupu Springs, a magical little place that we had heard so much about. With a name like that, we had to see for ourselves what it was all about, and it was pretty incredible. Its known for having the world’s clearest water, and it really did! No real words to describe it so the pictures will have to suffice. 

After Pupu Springs, we continued our journey to find a bed for the night. Naturally, we looked for places to stay near the bar and conveniently enough, we were successful in doing so! We met some other travelers at a lookout along the way who had mentioned a hostel called "Shambhala" and we finally found it right across the street from the bar we were going to that night. The hostel wasn't on any map or in any of the travel guides we had so we were a little hesitant at first driving down a long gravel path. 

However, when we got to the entrance of Shambhala, we had realized we found a hidden treasure. This hostel was RIGHT on the water of the Golden Bay. And for $25 a night, we could care less what the inside looked like. Well…turns out, we cared a little bit what the inside looked like. While the living room, kitchen, and every other bedroom in the house was surprisingly nice, the bedroom WE received was the size of a port-a-potty and there were dead bugs all over the walls, ceilings, and bed. YUM. I was surprised Hannah's OCD neat freakishness didn’t cause us to search for somewhere else to stay but the view was incredible, it was so cheap, and at that point we were just anxious to get to the infamous bar that we had heard so much about.

Front lawn of our hostel, Golden Bay

And that brings me to...The Mussel Inn.

We had heard a lot about this restaurant/bar from Jesse, Erin and Laura and it really was all they talked it up to be and more! They had so many great beers and ciders on tap that they brew right in the restaurant and the outdoor ambiance and live music made it probably one of the cooler places I have ever been to. My favorite drink of the evening was this cider called Freckled Frog. So good! After a bucket of mussels and a lot of disgusted looks from Hannah while I ate them, we went inside in hopes of making some New Zealand friends. We talked to the guys in the band for a bit and I taught Hannah how to play black jack and poker-- although if you ask her the difference between the two, she probably won’t be able to tell you.

An hour or so passed and we were having fun by ourselves until we looked up and realized that the bar all of a sudden was packed. The interesting thing was that in a room full of about 50 people, 45 of them were guys! There were no girls anywhere to be seen. We couldn’t help but laugh every time the door opened and yet another man had walked in. When it got to an unbelievable point where literally everyone was a male besides us, we had to ask the waitress who was walking around what was going on.

Turns out, this was not a normal night and all the men were not random locals. They were the crew for The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings that is being filmed here! We had a great night talking to all of them and hearing funny stories about some of the movies American celebs. However, we were very unsuccessful in our persuading skills and unfortunately after hours of begging, we will not be cast as extras in the blockbuster hit. 

After one too many freckled frogs, we decided to go back to our hostel and sleep on our very questionable mattresses. We both slept on top of the sheets wearing layers of clothes so that our skin didn't touch anything in the room. Needless to say, we did not wake up well rested the next morning.

Beach in front of our Hostel, Golden Bay

Even though we were struggling quite a bit when we woke up, it was a beautiful New Zealand day and we still had much to explore. We took a short walk along the Golden Bay in front of our hostel and then hopped into our little matchbox car and drove up the coast to Collingwood, and then finally Wharariki Beach and Farewell Spit at the northwestern tip of the island. I truly cannot express the beauty of Wharariki beach in words so, again, look at the pictures below. 

Wharariki Beach

After walking along the beach, watching Hannah make drip sand castles, poking some weird looking jelly fish, and trekking through the extremely windy sheep-filled hills back to the car, we had to start the journey back home to Murchison. On the way home, we stopped in Takaka  at a restaurant called "Feel Good Food" and, as luck would have it, we felt really bad after eating there. Surprise, surprise. 

Successful and fun 2 days away but we are now back at Owen River Lodge and ready for a full week of work with lots of new guests!