A Visit to Takaka, Golden Bay

Golden Bay is a place that moves quietly into your soul and finds a home there. Or is it the other way around? We decided this morning to delay our trip over the Takaka Hill and savor a few more clear sunny days here.

This morning we drove to Takaka, the largest town in Golden Bay at about 1400 people, to locate the raw milk dispenser and investigate Dancing Sands Distillery.

Since we last visited, the distillery was purchased by a woman from the UK and her Bostonian husband. They've retooled the offerings a bit, but are still making delicious distilled spirits on site using water from the aquifer that feeds Te Waikoropupu Springs, a Maori taonga (treasure) and wāhi tapu, a place held in high cultural and spiritual regard. The water there is some of the clearest spring water in the world, with a visibility of 63 meters.

Samples!

I chose a bottle of their Sacred Springs dry gin, spicy with a variety of botanicals. Other gins were on offer, one lightly chocolated with cacao shells from a Wellington chocolate producer. This one contains saffron and rose buds, the elements imparting the merest hint of their true selves in the final product.

Spring poppies grace a street-side planter. Tomorrow more walking in Abel Tasman.

Moa chick wall art