Collingwood, NZ

Saturday, February 22

New Zealand’s Golden Bay is a shallow C-shaped bay on the northern tip of the South Island. Yesterday, we stayed on the southeastern side of the bay in Abel Tasman National Park, and now today we’re moving up the coast to a quaint little town named Collingwood.

On the drive to our new campsite, we decided to stretch our legs at Labyrinth Rocks Park. Labyrinth Rocks is a natural maze made by 30-million year old limestone boulders. I thought our rock-loving Tory Girl would enjoy it. We actually drove by this park yesterday when we passed through the town of Takaka, but it was raining outside and wasn’t a very good time to stop. Today, however, was sunny and beautiful.

The deeper we got into the Labyrinth maze, the more Andi and I wondered if we should have grabbed a map at the start! There were lots of twists and dead-end turns throughout the maze and Tory and Aden were having so much fun directing us through them.

We walked through the narrow rock pathways and tunnels for about an hour before Andi and I decided to navigate Tory and Aden toward the exit. They could have wandered around the maze all day! Just goes to show, activities don’t have to be extravagant to be fun. The Labyrinth Rocks Park was free and the kids had a blast.

We continued on toward Collingwood, and booked a campsite at the holiday park there.. After we found a spot to park for the night, the four of us walked along Main Street to check out the town. It’s always convenient when town is walking distance from where we’re camped. Our first stop was the convenience store so Andi and the kids could buy an ice cream treat. Then, we made our way to the playground so Tory and Aden could burn off some energy.

Collingwood is a cute little town supported by eco-tourism. The most popular thing to do here is to take a tour to the Farewell Spit (the skinny piece of land that makes the top part of the Golden Bay arc). It’s one of the longest natural sand spits in the world and also a bird sanctuary. Andi and I are a little gun-shy when it comes to committing to all-day tours with the kids though, so we skipped visiting the spit during our time in Collingwood.

After we walked along Main Street, we returned to the campground and caught up on some chores. We all took showers (it had been 4 days since we stayed at a campground with amenities!) and did a load of laundry. Some of my best travel advice is to pack all dark-colored clothing and towels so you can wash everything together in one load. Makes laundry on the road so much easier!

Andi and I decided to take the kids out to dinner since there were a few restaurant options within walking distance of the campground. Aden liked the place with a big open courtyard and lots of toys outside, so we went there. It was called MAD Cafe.

It seems no matter where you are in New Zealand — big city, small town, or anything in between — the food quality is really great. MAD Cafe specialized in sustainable ingredients which is surprising since it isn’t the easiest place to get to in Golden Bay. Andi and I ordered an appetizer sampler platter to share since we weren’t super hungry and Aden and Tory split a cheese pizza for dinner. The kids played mini golf while Andi and I sat in the sunshine on the back patio. If the wind wouldn’t have been blowing so hard, it would have been the perfect summer evening outdoors.

We ended the day watching the sun go down over Golden Bay and with some chill time in the RV. Tomorrow, we’re heading south toward the West Coast.