Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Information
DOC Office
( 03-525 8026;
www.doc.govt.nz
; 62 Commercial St; 1-3pm Mon-Fri)
Information on Abel
Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks, the Heaphy Track, Farewell Spit and Cobb Valley.
Sells hut passes.
Golden Bay Visitor Centre
( 03-525 9136;
www.goldenbaynz.co.nz
;
Willow St; 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 2pm
Sat & Sun)
A friendly little centre with all the necessary information, including the indis-
pensible official tourist map. Bookings and DOC passes.
Getting There & Around
Golden Bay Air
( 0800 588 885, 03-525 8725;
www.goldenbayair.co.nz
)
Flies at least once and up to
four times daily between Wellington and Takaka.
Golden Bay Coachlines
( 03-525 8352;
www.gbcoachlines.co.nz
)
Departs from Takaka on Golden Bay
and runs through to Collingwood (25 minutes), the Heaphy Track (one hour), Totaranui
(one hour), and over the hill to Motueka (1¼ hours) and Nelson (2¼ hours).
Pohara
POP 350
About 10km northeast of Takaka is pint-sized Pohara, a beachy village with a population
that quadruples over summer. It has more flash holiday homes than other parts of Golden
Bay, but an agreeable air persists nonetheless, aided by decent food and lodging, and a
beach that at low tide is as big as Heathrow's runway. Look out for
Golden Bay Blokarts
(778
Abel Tasman Dr)
.
Pohara lies close to the northern gateway of Abel Tasman National Park. The largely
unsealed road into the park passes
Tarakohe Harbour
(Pohara's working port), followed by
Ligar Bay
. It's worth climbing to the Abel Tasman lookout as you pass by.
The next settlement along is
Tata Beach
, where
Golden Bay Kayaks
( 03-525 9095;
www.goldenbaykayaks.co.nz
;
half-day guided tours adult/child $85/35, freedom hire half-/full day $90/110)
offers
freedom rental of kayaks and stand-up paddle boards, as well as guided trips (including
multiday) into Abel Tasman National Park.
Signposted from the Totaranui Rd at
Wainui Bay
is a leafy walk to the best cascade in the
bay:
Wainui Falls
. It's a one-hour return trip, but you could easily take longer by dipping a
toe or two in the river.
