An incredible journey through a nature lover's paradise and a quick visit to a beautiful destination that is featuring on both wallpaper and a lock screen in Windows 10. This is one of the destinations on my trip to the South Island last year.
After spending most of our morning admiring the beauty of the Te Waikoropupu Springs, my partner and I continue north to the northwest of the South Island. For lunch, we stopped at a reserve dedicated to the Kaihoka region, a peaceful and quiet spot to enjoy a quick lunch and the beautiful landscape around.
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After lunch, we went to the Farewell Spit, a row of dunes surrounded by beaches that mostly functions as a wildlife reserve.
Before visiting this destination, I had searched online about this place and was so excited to know that this place has been a bird sanctuary since the 1930s and provides a home for over 90 bird species. Well I love birds and would be awesome to see their natural habitats.
As a nature reserve and a bird sanctuary, the spit is more strictly protected than a national park. Public access is only given to the first 4 km to explore the beginning of the spit. For other attractions along the spit include a gannet colony, wader watch area, lighthouse, Fossil Point and Cape Farewell, we have to book a scenic tour to access.
Since we didn't have a full day to go on a tour, my partner and I decided to explore the place by ourselves. Just take our time, go for a stroll along the coast and hopefully seeing some of my feather friends.
We started walking on the southeast side. Apparently, we arrived at low tide, and the coastline was immense. We were literally walking on what the maps would say was the sea.
We crossed the cord transversely. The day was very windy, despite the clear sky. Especially on the north coast, the wind and blowing sand were very hostile, so we finally had to go back up the south coast.
I couldn't see any birds at that time. I blame the strong wind for chasing them away. I told my partners: all the birds were at their sweet spots to hide from this wind. But obviously, it was the beginning of Spring so they might not have arrived yet. A bit disappointed as I would love to them as in the images I saw online.
The last attraction we were going to visit on our second day on the northern tip of the south island was Wharakiri Beach which is famous for being represented in one of the Windows wallpapers.
This is an easy walk along the most spectacular coastline in the region, passing through farmland and forest. The road started from a beautiful sheep farm, where we could see a mother and 2 small baby lambs were enjoying their time together and there were also peacocks begging for crumbs in the parking lot.
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To me, Wharariki Beach is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the Nelson Tasman region.
I aimed to visit Whakariki Beach during the sunset, so I could capture beautiful moments with the windswept sand dunes and sculpted cliffs framing the two archway islands like the ones featuring in the Window 10 wallpapers
Unfortunately, we arrived a little earlier. Sunset was approaching, but the sun was still high, and also the wind pulverized the sand in gusts that cannot be captured in photos.
Me trying to escape the sandy gusts
Even though I would love to spend more time exploring this destination, the unbearable wind chased us away. I couldn't open my eyes as the sand flew together with the wind, it was not enjoyable anymore. Instead, I was suffering from the extreme and wild weather. So we said goodbye and hope to visit this place again on a better day.
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