Collingwood (New Zealand)
Collingwood is the only town of size beyond Takaka, in Golden Bay, in the northwest corner of New Zealand's South Island. At the height of the Victorian gold rush, Collingwood was proposed as the capital of New Zealand.
Charming Collingwood offers a caravan park, several motels, restaurants, a small grocery, a chocolate shop, village hall, library, a hostel, post office and is the jumping off point for one of the top companies offering tours of Farewell Spit.
Get in
Carry on driving on the main road from Onekaka.
Golden Bay Air provides flights to Wellington and Nelson to Takaka Airfield than a taxi to Collingwood.
Tracknet for non-scheduled bus for bushwalking
Get around
See
- 🌍 Collingwood Museum, Tasman St. Daily 9am-6pm. Small museum in the former council offices (built in 1910). donation.
- Wharariki Beach (29 km north of Collingwood via Puponga). A spectacular beach close to Cape Farewell. Its Archway Islands feature in a Windows 10 wallpaper photo looking out from a sea cave.
Do
Heaphy Track (28 km south) for a typical 4 to 5 day tramp or in winter mountain bike ride.
Able Tasman Track
Scenic flights by Golden Bay Air around Golden Bay, the spit and the local mountains.
Buy
- 🌍 Rosy Glow Chocolate, 54 Beach Rd. Sa-Th 10am-5pm. Handmade chocolates from $4.50.
Eat
The Courthouse Cafe
MAD Cafe
Collingwood Tavern
Drink
Collingwood Tavern
Sleep
- 🌍 Somerset House, 10 Gibbs Rd, ☎ +64 3 524-8624, e-mail: info@backpackerscollingwood.co.nz.
- Pioneer Motel
- Collingwood Motor Camp
Go next
- Pakawau, with one of the best beaches in New Zealand, a little further northwest, does have a small grocery, a restaurant, a caravan park and nice seaside community of homes.
- Puponga beyond even Pakawau, is a pale shadow of its former coal-mining self and is the last settlement of any kind before reaching the world-famous beauty of Farewell Spit. It has a small backpackers and a café at the base of the spit.
- Kahurangi National Park and the 4–6 day Heaphy Track walk to the West Coast