Te Waikoropupu Springs

We started today by visiting Te Waikoropupu springs, a spring where crystal clear water upwells from being stored underground for over 10 years. The spring boasts that it has one of the clearest waters in the world and that the visibility is comparable to distilled water. From what I could see they were not lying about the clarity, you could see for meters into the crystal clear water where fish and plants swayed in the bubbles of water making their way to the surface. We took a short walk around the springs before heading to Salisbury falls, where a waterfall and a deep gorge were situated at the end of a long gravel track. It was a nice place and the site of an old gold mining area. After walking along the banks of the river we found flecks of golds, though sadly they were too small to make us millionaires. 

We stopped for a lunch of venison and mushroom pie, salad and crispy wedges at the naked possum, a small cafe with a outdoor seating area made completely of carved wooden furniture and an old smithy. After refilling we decided to head south to the Grove scenic reserve where we walked between limestone cliffs covered in thick green moss. To end our day we briefly stopped at the resurgence, the source of a river which emerged at the base of some huge limestone mountains.