Tapawera is a small rural town with a population of 600, located in the beautiful Motueka Valley. The surrounding Motueka and Whangapeka Rivers provide some of the best trout fishing in the South Island. The adjacent vast Kahurangi National Park, was formerly known as North-West Nelson Forest Park, and for many years Tapawera was largely a forestry town. The town has a Hotel and Pub, Four Square Supermarket and cafe.

Shedwood Bush Track: Signposted from the village centre, beautiful native bush reserve abundant with birds. Tapaweras’ own Shedwood track require only a minimum level of fitness for such a vast scenic reward.

Spooners Tunnel is New Zealand’s longest disused rail tunnel, 1352m long and at an altitude of 303m. The rail tunnel was once used for commercial mushroom growing. It also was a base for seismic equipment to gather earthquake data.Located near State Highway 6 and in-between Belgrove and Kohatu it is now a popular tourist destination, with guided tours. The tunnel is maintained today by a trust formed with help from the local Council. The proceeds from tours are used to meet the cost of looking after it. It is now a tourist attraction and is sometimes opened up to the public to walk through. The tunnel has been proposed to re-open for the cycle way that goes through the Nelson region.

More famously and importantly from 1893 it was a crucial rail connection to the Nelson region through the Golden Downs ranges from Glenhope in the south. Work on the tunnel started in 1891. Foreign immigrants, such as Chinese, Japanese, Italian, worked for two years, to dig through the hill to create the tunnel. Trains chugged their way through until rail services to Nelson stopped in 1955. The rail link had run for 79 years.

Lake Rotoiti is a lake in the Tasman Region of New Zealand. It is a substantial mountain lake within the borders of Nelson Lakes National Park. The lake is fed by theTravers River, water from the lake flows into the Buller River. The lake is surrounded byBeech forest and is 82 metres deep. Saint Arnaud is a small community at the northern end of the lake. Tramping tracks circle the lake, including the Lakehead track on the east side and the Lakeside track on the west side. There is a water taxi service that travels the length of the lake ferrying trampers to and from the Coldwater and Lakehead huts at the head of the lake. Rotoiti is also a popular place for waterskiing and is adjacent to Mt Robert, which hosted a small club-owned skifield, until it was removed by DOC in 2005.

Near the junction of SH 6 and SH 63 at Kawatiri, 97km south of Nelson. Car park at station beside road. A delightful loop walk through beech forest incorporates a river crossing and a tunnel. At the nearby Kawatiri Junction a display gives the history of the Nelson Railway which never got beyond here. A DOC campsite is also available.

The Wangapeka Track traverses Kahurangi National Park from the Waimea Basin in the east to the West Coast near Karamea in the west. It crosses two saddles of over 1000 metres and travels through beautiful beech-forested valleys of the Wangapeka, Karamea, Taipo and Little Wanganui rivers. Reasonable fitness is required and boots are recommended.From Tapawera, 62 km from Nelson, follow the sign posts west to the Wangapeka Valley. After crossing the Dart River ford or footbridge, continue 7 km up the valley to Prices Clearing. Here there is an information kiosk with public telephone (free dialing to Nelson) and intentions book. The track starts a further 1 km on at the Rolling River carpark.

From the West Coast road, turn off at Little Wanganui, 80 km north of Westport, 18 km south of Karamea, and drive inland for 5 km on Wangapeka Road to the carpark where the track starts.

A bus service is available from Nelson to Tapawera. From Nelson, Motueka and Tapawera, on demand transport services are available to the start of the track.

Similar services are available from the Karamea end, and an air service which can return visitors to their starting point.

Visit Nelson Honey for live beehive viewing and processing factory. From origins as a small one-man apiary on the outskirts of Nelson in 1900, Nelson Honey today is still a family owned business but has grown to become a significant employer at Motupiko, 50km inland from Nelson. Employing 15 beekeeping, factory and administration staff at peak times, the company produces a wide range of honey and specialist bee products for the domestic and international markets. Markets that demand high levels of service, quality, regulatory compliance and value pricing. Products are sourced from pure and clean undisturbed natural environments, free from synthetic chemicals and contaminants. Knowledgeable and skilled staff turn nature’s raw ingredients into a wide variety of food, dietary supplements and cosmetics that will delight you.