We’ll spend a few days in Golden Bay, showing Oma some traveller highlights that lie within a stone’s throw of our home.

Our itinerary for the day includes:

• Hawkes Lookout, at the top of Tākaka Hill:
  A short but stunning 10-minute walk across a karst landscape to a viewing platform on the edge of a cliff.

• Ngarua Caves:
  A very accessible one-hour cave tour that even our 3-month-old boy could join. Stalagmites, stalactites, and some ancient moa and kiwi bones.

• Waikoropupū Springs:
  A 45-minute loop walk to the largest cold-water springs in the Southern Hemisphere.

• The Grove:
  A 40-minute walk through limestone blocks draped with tentacle-like roots of native trees, leading to a viewpoint over the surrounding area.