Our next day at Abel Tasman took us further north to the Pu Pu Springs, which have some of the clearest freshwater in the world. With a horizontal visibility of 63m you could see the beautiful blue colouring around the spring and the fish and plants as if it were a clean fish tank.
The springs are a sacred site to the Maori which tells of the legend of Huwiawa who guards the springs when she's not clearing blocked waterways beneath the earth. The water has been used for healing and blessings due to its purity and spiritual importance.
We followed the coastline up golden bay (which I'm sure would have been golden if the tide were low) and reached the northern most tip of the North Island - Farewell Spit. With its huge rolling sand dunes spanning for many kilometres we could see how it was the longest natural sandbar in the world.
The spit's Maori name is Onetahua, which translates as 'heaped up sand', and heaped up sand it was! So much so in 1997 the locals rescued 327 whales that had beached.
The wonders of this area continued at Wharariki Beach with its wave-sculptured caves, islets, dunes and rock pools, it was a giant playground!
As the tide and rain set in we headed back over the soft sand dunes (a work out in themselves) to the warmth and dry of our camper-car.
The Pu Pu Springs (4th Dec 2013)
The springs are a sacred site to the Maori which tells of the legend of Huwiawa who guards the springs when she's not clearing blocked waterways beneath the earth. The water has been used for healing and blessings due to its purity and spiritual importance.
Maori calving at Pu Pu Springs (4th Dec 2013)
We followed the coastline up golden bay (which I'm sure would have been golden if the tide were low) and reached the northern most tip of the North Island - Farewell Spit. With its huge rolling sand dunes spanning for many kilometres we could see how it was the longest natural sandbar in the world.
Farewell Spit (4th Dec 2013)
The spit's Maori name is Onetahua, which translates as 'heaped up sand', and heaped up sand it was! So much so in 1997 the locals rescued 327 whales that had beached.
The wonders of this area continued at Wharariki Beach with its wave-sculptured caves, islets, dunes and rock pools, it was a giant playground!
Wharariki Beach and the calved arch (4th Dec 2013)
As the tide and rain set in we headed back over the soft sand dunes (a work out in themselves) to the warmth and dry of our camper-car.
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