Haast Pass

With another sunny day waiting in the wings (behind the mountains), we left a very cold and frosty Makaroa behind and carefully made our way over the icy road to our first stop in Haast Pass. 

The Blue Pools are located at the mouth of the Blue River which joins the Makaroa River deep within the thick bush of the Pass. It's a short and easy 1.5km return walk (1 hour) to the pools but the first thing we notice when we step out on the path through the bush is, (surprise, surprise), how bloody cold it is. It's freezing, and I usually don't feel the cold too much, but this was bone chilling cold. A good reason to step lively, I tell David. Needless to say, he's not impressed. We stop for a moment or two at the occasional sunny spot on the track, it's amazing how quickly you can feel the warmth from a weak sun. It's not too long before we can see the Blue Pool bridge across the river.

We cross over the Makaroa River swingbridge, being careful not to touch the wire rope too often- it's covered in thick ice and our gloves stick to it. Luckily the boards are covered in wire netting providing a good grip for our boots on the frosty bridge. 

We even have to scrape the ice off the information board beside the pools, to read it.

We're back into tourist territory; DOC have gone all out in providing well formed pathways, information panels and this excellent stable bridge so the pools can be seen clearly from above. 

The blue colour of the pools is a result of the light refraction on the clear, snow fed, icy cold water- I can relate to that; that's why my hands and nose are ice blue! A few hardy trout swim through the pool, it's obviously very deep as they look tiny down by the floor, growing to reasonably sized fish as they approach the surface.

Looking back towards the Makaroa River swingbridge- the rocky beach and surrounding trees are coated in icicles.

David has had enough of the cold, he heads back to the carpark while I take a track down to the edge of the pools...

...being very careful not to slip over as I cross the frost covered rocks, unlike this fellow who quickly regained his composure as he slipped and stumbled over them. 

And then the next lot of people did the same. I wonder how many have no idea how ice works. 

Our next stop was just down the road at the Cameron Flat DOC Campground which looks to have had a recent upgrade, there's several parking tiers, all surrounded with bollards and rails. It's well set out for the summer influx of campers although it's not our cup of tea. We're not keen on this type of regimented DOC camp, where the camping areas are marked out and they usually don't allow for larger rigs either. 

There were a couple of things going for the camp though; it catches the early morning sun and it has a fabulous view out over the Makaroa River Valley.

By the time we're back on the road and climbing towards the Pass summit, the icy roads are turning to slush and we can hear the recently spread grit splattering up underneath. We stop at the top...

...and decide that the Haast Pass Lookout Track looks a little too steep and a little too long at 3.5km.... maybe that can wait until the summer if we're passing through. The problem then will be the lack of carparking for our bigger rig- that's one plus travelling out of season.

We're ticking the stops off quickly now, especially when the attractions are right beside the road. Fantail Falls are next and it's just a quick 5 minute walk to see them. With such a dry summer and autumn there's not too much water flowing over them. We're a little underwhelmed (thankfully the walk wasn't too long).

And once again the rocky beach is covered in thick frost, which actually appealed more than the falls to some Irish travellers I spoke to in the carpark. 

David wanders back to the vehicles via the river, checking for trout along the way. I take some more frost crystal photos.

With no pull-offs or slow vehicle bays on a long haul up the next steep incline, we pull across the road to let traffic from behind pass...

...where there's a very steep drop off into the Haast River far below...

And it's not until later that I realise that this is the area where, 2 years ago, a landslide wiped a tourist's motorhome off the road and into the Haast Gorge during a severe weather event that hit the area. The badly mangled van was later found wrapped around a huge rock downstream. Sadly one person's body was never found and the 2nd's was found 50kms away washed up on the beach north of the river mouth. It's hard to believe that such a tragedy could happen surrounded by such a majestic landscape. Never under-estimate the power of nature.

We head downhill, passing a number of signs counting down the metres left before your time runs out to take the emergency off-ramp (or should that be up-ramp)! I can't even imagine how terrifying that would be. This is the first time we've seen anything like this on  our travels, and although it was steep it didn't appear to be that out of the ordinary. Maybe it's because the gorge and river are at the bottom of the drop...

...along with the 'Gates of Haast'. We crossed over the bridge and pulled into a parking area so I could get some shots of the river and bridge.

The roar of the water passing through the narrow gorge tumbling over and around the huge boulders was deafening. I 'found' this information plaque on a rock wall, hidden under the overhanging ferns on the other side of the road.  

Our next stop is at the spectacular and aptly named Thunder Creek Falls which appear like magic through a tiny gap in the bush, dropping 28 metres over a smooth rock face into a small pool below. David likes walks like these, its another short 5 minute walk from the carpark. 

We stop at the only other  DOC Campground on the Haast Road for lunch. Pleasant Flat isn't so pleasant today, the sun disappears behind the mountains just as we pull in and it's soon cold and very damp; thank God for the diesel heater, which we set going as soon as we stop. It doesn't take long to roar into life and the interior is soon toasty warm while we have hot soup and warm bread rolls. I love travelling with the van on the back!

Pleasant Flat is also another regimented campsite with rails and bollards around numerous areas that are tucked into the bush and out here around the shelters and toilets. We wouldn't fit the vehicles in here during the busy season either, except maybe outside the loos! No thank you.

Our last stop of the day is at the Roaring Billy Falls. I catch a glimpse of the falls over the top of the trees at the back of the carpark and try to decide if it's going to be worth walking to them. They are already in the shade and in fact it looks like they might not see the sun at all during the winter, tucked into a narrow gully between mountains. 

It's a 15 minute walk through a fern and moss laden silver beech forest to the Haast River bank where the view isn't any better. I cross the wide rocky river bed to the edge of the river and the foot of the falls but they are even more obscured by the overhanging trees, the noise is...well...a roar. Been there, done that, crossed it off the list. 

Back on the road and it seems to take forever to wind our way down through the wide Haast River valley until we finally reach the tiny settlement of Haast...

...which we pass right on by and turn left just before the exceptionally long single lane bridge over the river. We're heading south along the coast to the Haast Beach campground, a classic original kiwi campground. Except that it isn't actually at Haast Beach which is just 4kms south but at Okuru, 16kms south. There's plenty of signs letting us know that we're nearly there.

Haast Beach campground is a large property with lots of open space around the central ablution and kitchen blocks and two rows of cabins. It's the long Queens Birthday weekend and after our host tells us that there's a 4WD club due to stay in the cabins for the weekend, we find ourselves a quiet spot out the back with the whitebaiters 'retired for winter' caravans. Perfect! 

Well nearly, there's no cellphone reception so no internet, which is fine for a few days but it still feels like we've had an arm chopped off. We're given 2x 250mb vouchers when we check in (worth $25 each, a mistake we learn later, it should have been a five dollar, 50mb voucher). When we check the provider we find we can buy more data.....at 10 cents a mb. That's $100 a gb! That's some expensive satellite internet. Take note all you landlubber landliners with your endless supply of gigabytes.

And, I have to report here that I still had about 40mb left after 3 days careful use while he who shall remain nameless, used his voucher and then purchased another $10 worth, using all that as well! 

MacKenzie to Makarora

Well, here we are back in the land of the living, we're now parked up at the NZMCA Park at Franz Josef after a brilliantly sunny eight days on the West Coast. We really timed that right, our intensive weather watching finally paid off. 

Although this was just 12hrs later and it's been bucketing down for the last 36hrs. We could fill all our water containers and tanks 100 times over and still have some spare. We'll sit it out here for the next few days while we wait for the rain to ease and keep our chins up, by telling ourselves, "you can't have a rainforest without rain". 

We managed to fit in the Fox Glacier walk and Lake Matheson before the weather broke but there are still a number of walks here in Franz to do before we move on.

We had a bit of drama a couple of days ago when we had our very first puncture after 48,000km and 3 years of travel. But it couldn't have happened in a more picturesque place. Look at that backdrop, Mt Cook from the Lake Matheson carpark near Fox Glacier. Luckily David managed to change it without having to take the 5th-wheeler off the back although it was hard work, it all went well. It was the 40 minutes we spent hunting for the ignition key afterwards that did us in! 

I'll be back to do the blogs on the West Coast soon. We've had an awesome time and have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Coast so far, especially south of Haast.

Back to the canals at Twizel, and a few photos to send us on our way to the Coast. The days got colder and more spectacular as the snow crept lower on the surrounding ranges. It never made it down to our level like it did last year. It was also great to not have too many vans in the park, only a few tough and hardy movanners. And it was a lovely surprise to see Jeff & Miriam pull in again, that's them on the left. Both of us, buggers for punishment. We met them at the canals around the same time last year.

Although the top toughie award must go to this guy in his mobile man cave parked across the canal from us. He stayed for a couple of nights in the freezing cold with no heating that I could see, and possibly no fish that I saw either. That is dedication. 

I made my regular pilgrimage to the top of the hill behind the camp to capture the 360 degree view, but this time I willed myself out of bed before day-break, wrapped up warm in the -5c frost that was settling on the ground and was rewarded with the most spectacular sunrise.

Snow had fallen even lower overnight on the Ben Ohau Range. 

On the day before we left the canals, David went fishing (again) and I went off to explore Wairepo Arm, a small lake that sits off to the side of the canal opposite where we were parked. I was hoping for a few more bird sightings than I saw; the usual scaups (diving ducks), a few Grey Warblers and this cute little fellow, my favourite high country lake bird; a juvenile Australasian Crested Grebe. He ducked and dived all the way up the side of the lake. I ran ahead of him a number of times to hide behind the toi toi on the edge so I could catch him when he come in close. We gave each other a fright more than once. He was a very fast swimmer under water and beat me to my spot a few times.

The sculpture in the bottom photo sits on a small island in the middle of the lake.

The middle photo shows the new face of the MacKenzie Country, and not one that sits well with a lot of people either. Hydro power has been joined by the pivot irrigators of the dairy conversions.

After a walk around the lake I spotted David fishing out on the point, I decided the van looked a warmer option and headed in that direction. The temperature dropped dramatically as soon as the sun disappeared behind the clouds. 

We left the canals on another cold, clear, blue sky day, waiting until late morning for the snow and ice to turn to slush before crossing Lindis Pass. There actually wasn't too much snow around the summit although the carpark was full of hire motorhomes and people having fun; building snowmen and throwing snow balls around. The range in the distance looked good enough to eat, the snow thick and white, like icing on a cake.

We stopped for a late lunch near the Luggate Bridge over the Clutha River, this time in a gravel pit at the top of the rise instead of at the bottom as we did on our way past by last week. I hadn't realised that you could see the historic bridge from this angle, what a pity, I could have come here when I was doing my autumn colour tiki-tour around Wanaka. Added to my list for next time!

It was getting late by the time we headed west along Lake Hawea, with just enough light to get a good panoramic photo of the lake from the lookout.

There were a few times over summer when we had in mind to stay at the Kidd Bush Reserve DOC camp at the top of the lake (hidden on the shoreline beneath the mountains on the far left above) but it didn't eventuate. It was far too cold to stop now and we weren't even sure if the camp would be open (it closes over winter and for lambing), and we were heading to Makarora for the night. 

But I wanted to check it out for the next time we were in the area so I've added it in here to keep it in sequence. We came back up the road the next day exploring, this is the view looking towards Lake Hawea at The Neck, a small piece of land between Lake Wanaka & Lake Hawea. We're heading to Kidds Bush which is around the corner on the top left.

As soon as we turn onto the gravel track the sun disappears behind us and we can see frost and ice laying on the road side and ahead of us around the trees. 

The road is open all the way to the reserve but what a surprise awaits us, we're looking for a bit of sun to have a cup of tea but all we find is a campground covered in thick frost.

The reserve hasn't seen the sun for days, it's tucked in under some very tall mountains behind and the sun disappears over more mountains at the far end, without it reaching back here. We won't be having a cuppa at that table.

And it looks like I've finally found my elusive hoar frost, even if it is just a mini one. It was bitterly cold outside and I wonder how many tourists, in their hire vans, drive the 6km gravel and dirt track to arrive at this frozen landscape for the night. They'd be bitterly disappointed and I bet not many would stay, especially the small sleeper vans with no heating. We couldn't wait to get out of there.

We drove on to the end of the public road looking for a patch of sun for our cuppa, we found it at the end of the road right before it crossed a cattle stop into the high country Hunter Valley Station with this magnificent woolshed beside the gate. 

Kidds Bush will just have to wait until the height of summer before we'll be back to stay.

Back to our journey from the canals to Makarora. Once through The Neck we pulled into a lookout over Lake Wanaka. I can see Mou Waho Island in the centre at the far end. That's the island we visited in the Takacat from Glendhu Bay, 'an island on a lake in an island on a lake....",  you get the picture, click on the link above to see more. 

Then it's off along the edge of Lake Wanaka, the road winding it's way in and out, up and down, right along the shoreline, with stunning scenery out to the left and snow capped mountains above.

Until we finally reach our destination for the next couple of nights; the Makarora Country Cafe & Campervan Park.

It's also a NZMCA CAP(cost applies park) and we are the only ones in for the night. Which isn't surprising given that we're the only mad people out 'camping' in this cold. The first morning we had a -5c  frost. We haven't been leaving the heater on overnight because we've been toasty warm with the winter duvet and electric blanket (when we have power) but I'd have to say that the 2c in the van when we wake up, is a little too cold for comfort.

The following morning is was -7c outside when I woke and it dropped to -9c before the sun appeared over the hedge to warm our cockles. And look what happened to the 'drip, drip' in the night! Nature is so cool....literally.

And an added bonus to our Makarora stay was the NZ Falcon/Karearea that came to rest in this tree behind our van both mornings. Another sighting, in fact there were two birds in this group of trees, probably a pair. Can you see him (or her)? The little black dot on the right at the very top of the tree (click photo to enlarge). This is our 4th (and 5th) sighting of a falcon in 3 weeks.

Here he is, I've zoomed in for you (if only I had that 600mm). 

And here he is again the next morning, he sat in the tree for about 10 minutes, preening and scratching, stretching and surveying the scenery before flying into a nearby tree and disturbing the 2nd bird who flew off.

Makarora was a great place to stop at, it allowed us to explore the top end of Haast Pass and we had a site with power to return to at the end of the day. Which was just as well, given the freezing temperatures we experienced. Sunny days are great in the mountains, but they come with their downside too; very frosty mornings! At least the cafe's roaring fire, hot coffee & carrot cake went down a treat.