Farewell Spit

Today I drove from Murchison to Farewell Spit with a stop along the way at Ngarua Caves and Waikoropupu Springs. The caves were very cool and I got a semi private tour. Just as I pulled up, the guide was taking a guy on an unscheduled tour because he didn’t have time to wait for the next scheduled one. So I got to tag along. Since there were just the two of us and the guide, we made it through in abut 30 minutes instead of the normal 45. Then I stopped at Waikoropupu Springs. It’s the largest spring in Australasia, and I was hoping it might be something like Blue Springs on the North Island, but the really nice looking part of it is a fairly small area. I would have tried flying the Drone over it but it is a Maori sacred site, so I didn’t want to offend. From the Springs I drove out to Farewell Spit which is a finger of sand jutting straight up from the NW corner of the South Island several miles into Cook Strait and the Tasman Sea. I did a hike out there through a sheep farm to the beach. Then I drove down to Wharariki Beach where I am camping for the night. I did a hike out to Wharariki Beach from the campground, through another sheep farm, and was hoping for a nice sunset but there were no high clouds to color up and the wind was blowing fiercely. I did get some video of sand blowing horizontally across the dunes, but I should have taken a tripod out because the strong winds were making it difficult to hold steady.


Here’s a Panorama from a pass called Hope Saddle on the way from Murchison to the coast.


One of the passages in Ngarua Caves


Some of the Stalactites, Stalagmites and pillars in the cave.


One of the large rooms with hundreds of Stalactites.


A close view of some of the delicate little Stalactites on the ceiling.


A “Pipe Organ” formation.


The “Cathedral” passage.


The main Spring at Waikoropupu Springs.


One of the smaller side springs.


To get out to Farewell Spit, you have to cross a very large sheep farm. These are some of the very large sheep.


Looks like mom needs a perm. Or maybe she should just get it cut.


Got a sheep congestion problem, just put out some cones.


Here’s a close-up of some Heather blossoms.


To get to Wharariki Beach, you have to hike across another sheep farm.


You can see the Tasman Sea just beyond the farm.


The wind was whipping across the dunes and blowing sand horizontally. Not a good day to be on the beach, unless you’re trying to remove paint from something.