Thursday 10th January Golden Bay

A fairly sunny start to the day and over breakfast we discussed the options and decided to drive over Takaka hill to Golden Bay which is at the north west end of the Abel Tasman national park. Our guide book did warn us that it was a "stomach churning drive" and indeed it was. Not particularly steep, precipitous or difficult but it was hairpin bend after hairpin bend for around 20km.

Unfortunately the weather slowly deteriorated as we drove and by the time we had reached the flat plain on the other side of the hill we encountered gale force winds and heavy rain. Photography was very limited and as you will see from the photo below, Golden Bay did not look very golden.

After a look along the coast towards Pohara and Tarakoe we decided to consult the management committee about the available options. After a full debate the lovely lady wife decided that I should drive back over said hill immediately before the weather got worse.

The return journey was uneventful but unfortunately the bad weather was following us so there was no option but to head for Marahau and the very good restaurant, Hooked on Marahau, which we had experienced on our last visit. The temperature was still very warm and we decided to sit outside and managed to do so throughout the meal in spite of several more torrential downpours.

I mentioned that the area around Motueka is a fruit growing area with lots of apples. Apparently at this time of year there can be hailstorms and consequently the apple orchards are covered with white or red netting. The red netting is used on the Jazz apples (a very successful hybrid of Braeburn and Royal Gala) because it supposedly helps retain the redness of the apple. This is causing much local controversy as the wealthy residents living halfway up the hills are complaining that the red netting is spoiling their view of the plain and the bay. According to our tour guide yesterday, the plebs (his word not mine nor Andrew Mitchell's!) living in the town are now complaining that the houses of the wealthy are spoiling their view of the hills!

Having descended Takaka hill on the Motueka side this afternoon, we can see that the wealthy do have a case! 

We headed back towards Motueka stopping at Kaiteriteri in the hope that the weather would clear but sadly it did not so after refueling the campervan and stopping at New World for some essentials (which included the most expensive muesli in the world selected by the lovely lady wife) we settled down for a cup of tea at the campsite.

Ironically the weather cleared in the evening leaving a brilliant blue sky and warm temperatures so we st outside for our dinner!