here is now little native fauna and forest to be seen around the settled areas of Nelson. To best experience what is left, take the road north-west to Abel Tasman National Park, or go further to the Kahurangi National Park or Farewell Spit.

From Nelson take State Highway 6 north to the turnoff to State Highway 60, which is halfway between Richmond and Hope. This will take you to Motueka and Collingwood. The road is sealed and it is an easy 40-minute drive to Motueka and between here and Riwaka the road passes through fields of hops and tobacco which makes a change from looking at dairy cows.

From Riwaka to Collingwood the road is also sealed, but the climb up over the Takaka Hills is fairly tortuous, so it is definitely not a good idea to stop and sightsee. The descent to Golden Bay is particularly interesting if you are towing a caravan. Allow between 75 and 90 minutes for the trip.

At the top of the hill rather bizarre gravestone-like outcrops of marble have lent the name Marble Hill to the area. The descent down the hill takes you first through stands of the large-leafed shrub Senecio hectori and then beech forest.

Time permitting, take a detour up the road from Upper Takaka to the Cobb Reservoir. This road is a bit tricky, so take it carefully. It ends about 1100 metres up and there is a good chance here for you to examine mountain vegetation. If you have come from the North Island this will probably be the first time you will meet that character of the mountains, the kea. Also around here are western weka and a number of smaller birds, and endemic plants like the Cobb Valley gentian.

Back on the main road your next stop should be the Abel Tasman National Park which you can reach through Takaka and Motupipi. Turn right at the entrance to Takaka and you're heading directly for Golden Bay. Go through Pohara and past the Golden Bay cement works, past Wainui Inlet and over the Pigeon Saddle, then down to Totaranui and its beautiful golden sands.

Established in 1942 on the tricentenary of Abel Tasman’s discovery of New Zealand, the park is among the South Island's most beautiful. Parts of the original forest were burned, to be replaced by dense stands of manuka, gorse, bracken and pine, but the forest is slowly reasserting itself. Much of it is steep, broken country where the soft, golden granite has been worked by water into a myriad of shapes. Rivers slice through it before dropping into an azure sea fringed with golden beaches. It is the interplay of ocean and land which contributes so much to the beauty of the Abel Tasman Park, so it is ironic that it ends abruptly at the water's edge. It is essentially a coastal park and it would be logical to extend protection to the adjoining waters. Because of its beauty and ease of access it is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the South Island and has become a centre for tramping, boating and swimming.

From the park the road continues north-west around Golden Bay. Tasman originally named it Murderers' Bay for an unhappy encounter with the local Ngati Tumatakokiri people, but the name didn’t help tourism and it was renamed. Settlement here is mainly along the coast and up the valleys along the Aorere and Takaka rivers.

The area has been connected with the North Island several times in the recent geological past and this dry-land bridge allowed the two-way migration of plants and animals. The bay also served as a refuge for southern species during the ice ages and so this region today is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Behind Golden Bay lies the Kahurangi National Park and from Collingwood a drive of 30 kilometres over a gravel road takes you to the start of the Heaphy Track, near the confluence of the Brown and Aorere rivers.