The Wairau Lagoons sit immediately on the southwest side of Cloudy Bay, behind the Boulder Banks. They are quite a different hiking experience for New Zealand. The track goes through a wide expanse of mostly red and orange grasswort (a low-growing succulent) and grasses.
The track goes past the Waverley shipwreck on the lagoon inlet from Cloudy Bay. The Waverley was sunk in 1928 as part of the breakwater development at the Wairau Bar but was washed to its current position by a flood. It was replaced by the lesser-known SS Kennedy wreck, which you can see from Wairau Bar.
You can walk there and back or in a loop, taking in the edge of the main lagoon. Allow 2 to hours or so to do the full loop. Note that parts of the track can be very slippery in wet weather.
To get there, take State Highway 1 heading towards Kaikoura, then a few minutes outside Blenheim, take Hardings Road and park at the road end.
