Four Days at Patons Rock

Sadly our Farewell Spit trip was the last fine day we had for four days – weren’t we lucky! On Thursday we headed back into Takaka to get some groceries, only to bump into the Betneys coming out of the supermarket. They encouraged us to come back to their place, where we were very pleased to hunker down and wait for better weather – which finally arrived today.
It didn’t rain all day every day though, and we were able to enjoy several walks on the beach and around the delightful village of Patons Rock, or just sit and admire the garden or chat over a coffee. Joanne and Simon are incredibly welcoming and generous hosts, and we had a fabulous four days with them and their dogs, and even got to meet some of their neighbours. We can’t thank them enough.
It was with quite heavy hearts that we left Golden Bay early this afternoon, where we’ve spent the last two incredible weeks. Promising to return in the (hopefully not too distant) future, we headed back over the Takaka Hill. On this side of the hill not far from the summit is Hawkes Lookout, where we took a short walk through the bush and between water-hewn boulders to a marble outcrop high above the Riwaka Valley. We stood almost directly above the Riwaka Resurgence (that we visited more than 2 weeks ago) and admired the awesome views over Tasman Bay, before pressing on to Motueka, where tonight we are staying at the NZMCA park.Read more