Water water everywhere

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And the rain kept coming. Vicious winds drove sheets of rain crashing to the ground. I watched the rain pour in all evening and I heard it splashing onto the tin roof of the backpackers all night. The staff party led to much madness in the bar with a live band and much silly dancing but thankfully my bed was far enough away from it all that to allow for some sleep. This morning, it rained some more. The clouds did lift briefly as I was leaving Mt Cook but nowhere near high enough to expose the great mountain itself.

So I reversed yesterday's 200km journey and landed back in Wanaka not having seen as much as one of Mt Cook's ridges. But I did enjoy being there - watching the ridgelines of the surrounding mountains appear and disappear through the mist.

Last day in Wanaka before I head back to Queenstown tomorrow so I decided I would head north towards Haast pass and see what all this rain has done to the rivers, waterfalls, forests and mountains of the pass.

I drove out as far as Roaring Billy which was indeed roaring. I was very tempted to drive on to the coast, just to see the Tasman angry but energy levels would not have allowed that I think. I stopped and wandered down to Blue Pools which is only a gentle half hour walk through some beautiful bush. However, on the other side of the bridge over the swollen river is also the beginning of a tramp known as the Wilkin-Young. This track rises swiftly and then drops into the Young valley. I had read the "Urgent Alert" posted at the beginning of the track - saying in slightly more politically correct terms "don't go into the valley - you'll probably drown". But I couldn't resist having a wee scamper up the track. I only went a short way though - it was indeed very, very wet. Another one for another day.

The water is pouring off every mountain in a myriad of waterfalls. The rivers are smashing up tree and rock with complete abandon. It's truly beautiful but not very useful for walking. I actually quite like walking in the rain but this amount of rain in such a short time means most things are now impassable.

I'll find a scramble somewhere tomorrow though - can't stand any more days without getting out there.

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Photos

Roaring Billy
and a very, very fast moving Haast river

Thunder Creek fall
and a very, very angry river

The top of Lake Wanaka
and a wee bit of sun (and rain) for the evening

Miromiro
Or, as the Europeans call it - a tomtit

Comments

[Rob]

n'ere err a drop to drik
I wonder how many days a year it rains in South Island?