Thursday 2 January 2020

Wild and Windswept Farewell Spit




Another place we visited in Nelson was this expansive place Farewell Spit - quite a long drive out, took us about roughly 2 hours but unlike where we live the scenery wasn't boring. After leaving the carpark we walked out onto this beach and carried on for at least 20 minutes.




After walking along a track for another 30 minutes we climbed over sand dunes to read this very wild and windswept beach that looked almost like no one had ever been there. 



 
This huge piece of driftwood caught my eye and I took photos of it from different angles. FYI Farewell Spit is at the northern end of Golden Bay. Known as Tuhuroa meaning "explore" it is the longest sandspit in NZ.




Although it looks like wind in these photos it is actually fog, we spent the whole time in Nelson with overcast rainy weather. The dunes are constantly exposed to very strong winds around 25 km/h.




At some point along the beach I spied something moving near some more driftwood - it turned out to be this Fur Seal sleeping on the sand. It's best to stay away from wild ocean critters so we carefully walked past and hope it wasn't going to be harassed by other people as they sometimes are. This beach is a popular place for Pilot Whales beaching themselves on the sand.




After walking through some farmland privately owned which had been opened up to the public we walked past herds of cows and sheep being moved into an upper paddock.




It was nice to see this little well with a sign saying "This wishing well is here for you whatever you wish for I hope comes true". I think in total we walked about 10 kms - good exercise and we were shattered once we got back to the car.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday

10 comments:

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

What a great walk you took us on. I love it, especially the fur seal.
We went to the Oregon Coast one August and about froze to death walking on the beach.

Rhonda Albom said...

This is a beautiful area. I once walked on the beach up there but not nearly as far as you walked.

Susan Heather said...

It is a lovely beach isn't it. I have two pieces of driftwood my late hubby picked up there.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, what a wonderful place for a walk. The seal is cute and I love the cow and sheep. The driftwood beach is cool. Great shots. Wishing you a happy day and weekend!

DawnTreader said...

Dreamy beach images - almost a little spooky in the fog :)

William Kendall said...

Quite a walk.

Graham Edwards said...

I absolutely loved Nelson when I first went there and have loved it ever since. I live in a remote place. But to me it's not remote. When I lived in Napier people said it was remote but I didn't feel that. But whenever I went to Nelson it always seemed very remote. That's not a criticism. It's just the feeling that it gave me. But I still loved it.

Photo Cache said...

Happy New Year! Wishing you the very best of 2020 and I look forward to your posts in 2020.

Worth a Thousand Words

Lady Fi said...

Gorgeous shots!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

The driftwood shots are hauntingly beautiful!! Happy New Year to you.

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