This is the backpackers that we stayed for few nights.. wonderful place, friendly host! And amazing breakfast!
Our room was pretty amazing, 6 bed dorms, not bad if you have friends to fill it up.
Another room and lounge. There's an Imac for anyone who wants to use or go online. Just drop some coins on the bottle provided. Cool!
We start our day by visiting Wharariki Beach, one of the famous beaches in New Zealand. It's not hard to find the beach, and doesn't require great fitness, or long walks. One can just drive from Collingwood town to the end Wharariki Road, and it takes about an hour only to get there. You can park you car/caravan for free in the carpark and walk another 20 minutes to the beach.
Best time of course is during the low tide. Please check and make sure the weather is good, and low tide or you'll be pretty much disappointed and wet! There's no cover during the short walk to the beach, and definitely no man-made covers either on the beach. Some small caves perhaps, but you're risking life is the tide level increase and rain does not stop. Anyway, not to scare you away, just to give some tips for a much more pleasant trip. Hehe..
Another tips, it's either wear an unwanted shoes or easier to clean shoes as there's plenty of shits along the way to the beach. It's crazy.. shit is practically everywhere... every foot you step... madness! After walking for 15 minutes, you'll see this dark-colored river. Pay some attention, as you might be lucky to see some seals swimming around. I saw 3..
It was like a barren wasteland when we first reach the sandy part of the walk. Not the typical beach that i'm expecting, but something different. Windy, sandy, and wash out.
Apparently, the nicer part of the beach was like another 30min to an hour walk and too bad, we don't have the time nor luck with the weather initially. However, it was not that bad… nice view, cool breeze and after hanging out a while.. the sun and the blue sky decided to appear once again! Perfect1
Took some photos before moving on to the next destination, Cape Farewell. The sky doesn't look that good though, with rain clouds emerging from god knows where. The weather in New Zealand changes drastically all the time. One can not have the perfect plans and got to change accordingly. We get back on the Wharariki Road, and head straight to Cape Farewell, which is about 10 minutes from the Wharariki Beach car park.
It's another short walk to the lookout from Cape Farewell car park, about 5 min i guess.. a two interesting trees greeted us at the entrance.
The lookout was pretty high, and it was an amazing sight from there. It looks so grand. However, my leg doesn't seems to feels so.. haha.. kinda scary looking down from there. I got weak knees from that! Imaging what i'm going to feel during the sky diving on coming Sunday. Oh la la…
After a while there.. it started to rain… damn… we rush back to the car. After few minutes, it seems to clear a little bit though but we decided to call it a day. Upon exiting the car park, we drove past a farmhouse, with lots of sheep gathered in the fences. There were 2 guys and few dogs chasing the sheep into smaller enclosure. We was wondering what is going on. Little lamb was separated from it's mother.. and next, we saw something unpleasant. Wait, we smell it first.. it was a burning smokey smells and we noticed the little lamb was handled one by one, the tails are dock using a burning clips or something that cuts and burn at the same time. Pardon my knowledge but it reminds me of how vet used to dock puppies tail off. The burning was actually used to seal the wound and prevent secondary infection and unnecessary blood loss. It was a very quick process, but too far for me to take a shot. Another eye opening experience!
Get back to the car with a eerie feeling and kinda distracted by the little lamb's crying… but it's agricultural and hygiene. IMO, it prevents shits from sticking on the precious wools. Something quite similar to the reason why some working dog's tails are docked. Either to prevent injuries during work or hygiene purposes, especially for those long coated dogs.
Anyway, we head back to Collingwood town to get some food for dinner as it's getting late. Surprisingly, there's little to no choices for food over there… sad.. and we decided to drive to Takaka town to get some food instead. It takes about 20 minutes to get there.. and not much choices either. Either you cooked it yourself, or fish & chips! Well, I'm a fan for good fish & chips… and i'm glad we pick the right shop.
However, it was not as straight forward as it sounds. We gotta wait for the shop to open at 4.30pm. We waited patiently around.. and finally, an Aussie guy came, open the doors and take our orders. He was a friendly guy, and his fish n chips is great! Not to mention, it's cheap too! After getting our orders, we drove back to the backpackers to enjoy the fish n chips with our grape juice from Seafried! Isn't that nice? Sitting outside under the sun, cool breeze, refreshing juice and yummy fish and chips. Great combination and great way to enjoy the evening...
