Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of Golden Bay, near Nelson New Zealand. It stretches 34km, making it one of the longest natural sandspits in the world.

This massive sandspit has two entirely different faces. Open sea on one side. And sheltered waters protected by the spit on the other .

A wetland of international importance, Farwell Spit has been a bird sanctuary since the 1930s. It provides a home for over 90 bird species. And, if you’re lucky, you may even see some seal pups basking in the sun below.

Bar tailed godwits, knots, curlews, whimbrels and turnstones fly around 12,000 kilometres every northern hemisphere autumn to spend the summer here in the south. The spit also has a gannet colony.

To guide passing ships, Farewell Spit’s first lighthouse was built in 1869. Cape Farewell at the beginning of the spit is the northernmost point of the South Island.