The Beautiful and Bizarre Labyrinth Rocks Park (Golden Bay, New Zealand)

May 23, 2016

Our final destination for the day was a place called Labyrinth Rocks Park. It wasn’t in my guidebook nor in the local brochure guide I had; so I must have stumbled across this on the internet. I certainly know what caught my attention: it’s a karst geology extravaganza!

We picked up one of the little maps at the entrance gate and it instantly became apparent that seeing the entire place could take a couple of hours. We just made our best guesses as to what might be most interesting and set out into the park.

The park is truly a labyrinth with paths that wind through fantastical rocks, most of them with intriguing side paths that we couldn’t resist exploring. It’s also a very lush green place with lots of moss, ferns, vines and trees. Like the Grove Scenic Reserve, it’s quite beautiful yet surprisingly doesn’t seem to get many visitors–we were the only people there.

Below, some photos of our walk though Labyrinth Rocks Park. (click to enlarge/scroll through gallery).

There is one very unique feature here: the figurines. Whoever’s in charge of this place has scattered little toys (about 1 to 2 inches in size) amongst the rocks with the idea that they would surprise and delight small visiting children. I’m not sure at what point in the weathering process a toy goes from being cute to being scary, but a few of the toys had passed that mark. While I appreciate the intention, I don’t think these items are an asset to the park. Still, the place is beautiful enough that the strange toys don’t really detract from it. This was definitely a cool place to visit.–Cyndi

Below, a few photos of the park’s toys. Enlarge and scroll at our own risk; we will not be responsible for any nightmares that may result. –Cyndi

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