For the Wellington Anniversary weekend a couple of weeks back, Lucas and I headed for Tora to get out of the city and get remote. It was an amazing weekend and so beautiful, helped by the spectacular weather we had, so I took some photos and thought I’d share them here on the blog.
Incase you don’t know it, Tora represents the rugged coastal area of the Wairarapa and you reach it, by driving an hour east of everyone’s favourite wine village, Martinborough. This makes it around a 2 hour drive from Wellington. Despite being fairly close though, Tora feels very remote. There is no phone service, no shops and no petrol station; just a few farms and Baches. This makes it the perfect place to recalibrate the head space! You could hire one of the Baches through book a bach or take your tent.
We are lucky enough to have friends living out there running the Tora Coastal Walk (a three day catered walk in the hills and along the coast) so we stayed with them. But there is plenty of free camping along the coast with toilets and you can settle for a day or two and go surfing, fishing, walking, mountain biking or just straight chilling.
Tora – A Local Slice of Paradise
What I love about Tora is that it feels like a locals spot. There are quite a few local people out there fishing for Paua and Crayfish, camping and surfing. Its not easy to get to and its not so well connected so it doesn’t feel like a usual New Zealand tourist spot, more like a hidden gem. Even some Kiwi Wellington friends told me they hadn’t heard of, or been to Tora. I love this: this is the kind of place I treasure (and share with you here obviously!)
There is a cool shipwreck worth mentioning it to. You can only see it slightly in one of my pictures as it was high tide, but the remains of Opua, a Coal Carrier that was wrecked in thick fog in 1929 are washed up on the coastline. I feel like I can imagine what that night was like – pretty ruggedly terrifying ! All the crew survived apparently but the ship did not and you can see it in its rusting glory.
Anyway, here a few photos I took in the area so you can get an idea of the rough coast lined with sweeping hills Scroll down for some information about Tora and where to stay/what to do:
Sustainability side note: If you are going fishing or diving, remember to abide by the strict size and numbers limitations that are policed down there (and everywhere) to keep the ecosystem thriving!
You can also check out some other Wairarapa based posts here:
What to expect from Coastella Festival 2018 – Interview with founder Paul Brown
Staglands – Cute animals in the Wiararapa.
Long Weekend Trips from Wellington – 3 Ideas
Tora Visitor Information:
Click here for Fishing Rules and Regulations
Click here for Tora Coastal Walk
Click here for Tora Holiday Houses
Click here for Camping at Tora
Click here to learn more about Tora
Thanks for reading and come back soon!
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Josie x