April Holiday: Golden Bay - Whakariki Beach

Monday was ANZAC Day. I woke up early and went to the loo in pjs, jersey and sandals. But the eastern horizon was just starting to show colour, and I ended up pretty cold by the time the sun came up. Anzac Day was always special to my father, a returned serviceman, and he died just two and a half weeks before Anzac Day 1988. As I stood on the beach watching the sky I remembered him.

After breakfast we headed North. Because of the tide, there were no bus trips to Farewell Spit, the only way you are allowed to go, so we went to Whakariki Beach, the loveliest beach ever. I would like to move to Golden Bay just so I could walk on this beach every week! (Although we have some very beautiful here in Raglan and Ruapuke that I don't walk on weekly.)

First we walked to one end of the beach, intending to walk along the beach which you can only do at low tide.















We waited for the water to retreat, but it was just dawning on us that the tide was, in fact, coming in, when the manager of the camping ground arrived with her daughter and grandchildren. She declared we were too late, and it turns out it was her husband's fault - he had told us all the wrong time for low tide. So we headed back to the car park.



After a picnic lunch, followed by a coffee at the cool little cafe, we took the other path which took us to the other end of the beach.

 What a wild, wonderful place - sand dunes, surf, rocks and islands. Stunning.

April Holiday: Go Wild With Weaving

A year ago, I was browsing the web, as you do, and randomly bought 50 basket willow cutting from Go Willow!, as you do. Then of course, I said to Mac, I need to go to a willow weaving course so that if when they grow, I can make baskets. As you do. Well, I wasn't really serious, but then we thought about how we'd been talking about visiting Golden Bay for decades, so hey! why not? The two day Go Wild With Weaving workshop was in Collingwood, so it was up early to be there at nine.

So on Saturday morning I walked up the hill to the local school and discovered over the next two days that basket weaving is not my thing. I loved it but it didn't love me - my arthritic hands were feeling very sorry for themselves by the end of the weekend. In addition to being hard work, though, it was fun.

 Day one's basket.

For dinner on Saturday night everyone, plus partners and children, went to a cafe way out in the dark. We were given instructions several times, and everyone made it there fine - unlike the previous year when someone missed the 'turn right' bit but remembered the 'gravel road' bit and ended up driving along the Heaphy Track! Not the done thing at all. Anyway, I can heartily recommend The Naked Possum as a place to eat.

On day two we made a second basket, although a couple of people worked on the same one, adding height and handles. At the end of Sunday, we had a display, which made me want to go back again next year and try one of the other workshops. There are more photos here.

 Go Willow

Go For Flax

Go For Hats

 Go Twining

 Go Paper Weaving

 Go Stitching

 Meanwhile Mac was relaxing and having a look around while the tide was in.

 

April Holiday: Over the Hill

When the boys and I came to Nelson in 1999, I had planned to go over the Takaka Hill to Golden Bay. However there was a bush fire on the hill, and they closed the road. Nearly seventeen years later I finally made it! I think I could have driven over the hill back then, but my vertigo has gotten a lot worse since then, and I felt really ill, even with Mac driving. Me and heights - not a good mix. But, oh, so very beautiful.

And so to the camping ground at Collingwood, which is right on the beach. We had booked a cabin for the weekend, while I was at my workshop, but after out tenting experience in Nelson, decided to spend the extra and stay in cabins for the rest of the holiday - 'warm' and 'dry' aren't adventurous descriptors, but they sure a nice!