Cape Foulwind

It’s with heavy hearts and fond memories that we bid farewell to Sonia and Filip and our gorgeous suite, home for the last three nights, but it’s time to continue with our journey. 

It’s amazing how time seems to speed up the longer we are travelling. We started with a sense of infinite adventure set before us, endless days of exploring this beautiful country. Then all too soon, we find ourselves entering the penultimate phase; the long journey down the western coasts of South Island. But of course, we still have over two weeks left to travel and enjoy, so it’s far too early to begin the sense of ending. 

We leave Golden Bay in greyness, retracing our journey over Takaka Hill, back to the  ‘real world’ that exists outside the guardianship of those hills. It’s a largely uneventful journey, though we do enjoy a coffee and the unexpected joy of excellent apricot danish pastries in a rural cafe, chatting with a ‘free wheeler’ heading - uncertainly - for his first rally; streams of caravans and mobile homes drift past us heading the same way. 

We enter the Buller Gorge, avoiding the ‘longest swing bridge in New Zealand’ and associated zip line, preferring a more sedate viewpoint of its beauty. 

As we move towards the west coast, the skies lighten, and when we reach Cape Foulwind, despite the ominous name, we’re now in brilliant sunshine. We find our home for the night - Okari Cottage - a beautiful little building overlooking the wild shores. It has everything we need - even a dishwasher! - yet we cat sit on the deck or lie in bed listening to the waves. 

Of course, there is exploring to complete before we settle down, so off we go to ‘do’ the Cape Foulwind walk - or rather, as it’s a linear route - to do the first part, return to the car, then do the second. The beaches here are glorious - long stretches of sand with rolling breakers favoured by surfers - and the first part of the walk takes us past Tauranga Bay to the seal colony. We can see seals, but after Cape Palliser, this is disappointing - though the scenery is beautiful. The second section takes us to the new lighthouse, nowhere near as picturesque as the original wooden tower, only the base of which remains. But the coastline itself is simply stunning. 

Back at our Airbnb cottage, we prepare our meal and eat out on the decking to the music of the sea. Eating long over, we sit and watch the sun sink in the west, watching the colour intensify to the constant crashing of the waves. Just wonderful. 

My main’s a sunset from our cottage, with extras  of Tauranga Bay and the Buller Gorge.