The Gates Of Haast

 

Three years ago I was travelling down the West Coast of the South Island and on this day I was driving over the Haast Pass.

This road, which traverses the Southern Alps, was only opened in 1960 although the trail had long been used by Maori in search of greenstone.

It was not long before civilization was left behind, and the road was winding along beside the Haast River.

There are many corners, sometimes the road is narrow, there are several single-lane bridges – it is quite an adventure driving over this Pass.

And, of course, it is nearly always raining!

On average, Haast has rain on 177 days each year (totalling about 77 inches), so I thought this poem I found in the Visitor’s Centre was quite apt.

The scenery can be quite majestic.

There is a gorge at the top of the Pass known as the Gates of Haast and the whole feeling of this place is rather wild.

There are several waterfalls one can visit, and this one was named Fantail Falls.  I collected some smaller rocks from the creek here.  They were so cold, like they were made of ice.

Coming down the other side, now heading towards Wanaka and Queenstown, I stopped at several pretty spots to take some photos. 

The sandflies here were large and black and quite vicious biters, and I came away with several blood spots dotting my arms and legs!

The weekend seems to have passed quickly (it is Sunday evening here now).  We watched all six of the Super Rugby games, had a visitor to dinner last night, and this morning I went out for morning tea with a friend.

A busy time, but it has all been happy 😊

Until next time,

Margaret.