Golden Bay, and Abel Tasman park, new Zealand

Golden Bay region is a long bay protected by a beak-like spit of forest - in fact the whole region looks very like a kiwi bird with its long curved beak. This gives the bay a calm protected sea, and there are fine golden sandy beaches, separated by rocks, and safe swimming. We were lucky here to have four days of fine weather to enjoy it all.

There is much to explore in this region, from the Abel Tasman national park at the base of golden bay, to the top with forever spit, amazing views and the stunningly wild Whaririki beach. The hiking in Abel Tasman is beyond beautiful and under-populated; there are so many lovely walks and so much nature to see, that a week would be a better time here.

On our walk on the beach at Abel Tasman, we walked for an hour to the point, and one needs low tide to be able to do this, there are some challenging rocks to clamber over, we encountered a few folk who had rented sea kayaks to do the same exploring. These two needed a hand to get their kayak launched off the shore again.