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 departure point for tours along Farewell Spit.

Get in
From Takaka, drive on State Highway 60 through Onekaka and on to Collingwood.

If flying to Takaka Aerodrome (21 km away), you can hire a car or get a taxi from the aerodrome.

Tracknet for non-scheduled bus for bushwalking.

Do

 * Heaphy Track (28 km south) for a typical 4 to 5 day tramp or in winter mountain bike ride.

Eat

 * The Courthouse Cafe
 * MAD Cafe
 * Collingwood Tavern

Drink

 * Collingwood Tavern

Sleep

 * Pioneer Motel
 * Collingwood Motor Camp
 * 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