Farewell Spit

On Friday, after an afternoon thunderstorm subsided, we decided to drive up to the Farewell Spit, a narrow, sandy piece of land that extends from Cape Farewell (the northernmost point on the South Island) 35 km east, separating Golden Bay from the Tasman Sea. Abel Tasman (a Captain in the Dutch East India Company) was the first European to spot the Farewell Spit in 1642 (though he never set foot on it) and Captain Cook named it in 1770. Tasman never set foot on the region because of a nasty encounter with the Maori while his two ships were anchored in Golden Bay. The sailors noticed activity on the beach at night from their ships and were approached by Maori canoes the following day. The Maori attacked a small boat that was providing transportation between the two larger ships and killed four of Tasman’s crew. Tasman pulled out after this event and named the area Murderers’ Bay. This all occurred further in Golden Bay, closer to Abel Tasman National Park. Below is a great view of this area with one two sets of footsteps (we were the only people we saw).Farewell Spit is one of the country’s most important bird habitats with over 100 species. That’s what we hear anyway; we didn’t see any while we were there. They must still be North for the winter.
The Spit looks really narrow on the map, so we decided to try to cross it. It’s a lot wider in real life. We got stuck wading through this swampy marsh for about an hour.
That gave way to a barren desert.
Luckily, we found our way back to the original beach we started on, as it was getting dark.
We made it back to the car right as it was starting to get really dark… the gods are smiling on us.