Kairuru Farmstay in Golden Bay

We stayed two nights at Kairuru Farmstay on top of Takaka Hill in Golden Bay -- at the northern tip of New Zealand's south island. It offers two cottages to stay in right on the 4000 acre working farm. The views were incredible. 

From the Pipit cottage where we were you could see down to Sandy Bay and over to the hills separating the farm from Abel Tasman National Park. We hiked up to the top of the Takaka Hill right behind the cottage. From there you could see Golden Bay, Motueka, and all the way over to Nelson. I wonder if on a really clear day you could see New Zealand's north island.

There are plenty of places to hike or mountain bike on the farm's 4000 acres. (Abel Tasman Mountain Biking offers a ride starting at the top of Takaka Hill down to Sandy Bay through the farm.) Additionally, there is the old quarry used to supply the marble for the government buildings in Wellington. However just sitting and reading on the porch of the cottage was very tempting too.

Being a working farm there were always animals walking by. One of the cows was convinced that the grass was really greener and tastier on the other side of the fence. She would stick her head through the fence everyday stretching as far through as possible.