Pupu Springs in Golden Bay – Day 89

We are finally making our way to New Zealand’s most pristine and purest waters.

It’s beach time. As we’re leaving Nelson I insist that we stop at Tahunanui Beach because the sun is shining and this place just looks awesome. Tahunanui Beach is only about five minutes drive out of Nelson and it’s a super long stretching beach with lookouts all the way over to the national parks in the distance. And this is just a prime example of how close the mountains are to the sea. But sadly we don’t have that much time to spend on the beach because we have a lot to do today. First up supermarket shopping. At the entrance we notice a DJ system where we can choose the song that we want to be played while we shop. I have never seen that before.

And yeah we go on with our shopping and start at the fruit and veg aisle when the music starts. We are in Men in Blacks. Galaxy Defender. Are you seriously saying Men in Blacks? Are you really that bad with your plurals?! Is this what it’s become?

Next stop on our list is to go up the Takaka Hill. This is the massive hill in between the Nelson Tasman region and Golden Bay area. It’s a tough long winding drive that we have to tackle to our next destination. Despite it being quite a long drive over Takaka Hill, there’s actually quite a lot to see. the views are open lots of amazing viewpoints along the way and there’s all these basalt outcrops so it sort of give it a real like Lord of the Rings vibe to the place. I expect an Orc to jump out at any minute.

this is also the only access into the Golden Bay area unless you come here by boat.

Before we’re checking into our hostel we have something to check out. So we just arrived at the Te Waikoropupu Springs which are located near the little township of Takaka. Now it’s a very sacred place here the water here is said to have some healing powers and this is such a place of strong beliefs and significance for the Maoris and there is a lot of rules here you cannot smoke you cannot drink you cannot bring food you cannot take the water from the spring you cannot touch the water as well.

The entrance to Te Waikoropupu Springs is really awesome. there’s all these Maori carvings and information about the culture surrounding the place. A lot of poems as well. There’s really a lot to see here. We are now taking the loop track toward the springs and already getting glimpses of the river with some super clear water in it. So we can’t wait to actually see what these springs look like. And it’s not long before we get our first glimpse of the springs. There is a tiny lookout before the main one right halfway through the track and we start to get an understanding of what we are going to be seeing today. It’s some amazingly turquoise waters.

behind another Maori sign welcoming us the area we get to walk onto a wooden platform which stands above the main springs and what a view.

Our mind is blown by what lies before our eyes. It’s a surreal view it’s almost as if we literally stepped out of planet Earth and arrived in an unknown world.

The first thing that grabs our attention is the fact that we can see all these bubbles dancing on the surface and this is exactly water is coming out of the ground. The visibility here is 63m and we can see every little detail of the bottom of the lake here. Every single rock every single piece of river weed we can see dancing underneath the surface this place looks like it’s from a fairy tale.

It’s another prime example of how amazing nature here in New Zealand it was stunning I have never seen anything like that and I don’t think I will ever get a chance to see anything like that again. But it’s a short walk back toward the camper van then a short drive to the bare foot hostel where we’re staying tonight.

All by myself, don’t want to be all by myself.