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Published: March 6th 2009
Wednesday 4th March - On the road to Haast sun shining and the mountains looked amazing - vegetation very lush and lots of tree ferns. At lunchtime came across a stunning beach Bruce Bay - volcanic sand and tree ferns that came down right to the beach. Deserted beach and aquamarine sea - bliss - had a stroll along would have been very easy to stay put! Drove on and next stop was Monro Beach hoping for sight of penguins. There was an 1hr 15min walk through lush coastal rain forest down to the stunning beach - no penguins but plenty of sand flies!! so sadly didn’t stay too long. Eventually reached Haast and found a small convenience store to stock up on provisions - we headed for Jackson Bay which was down a 45Km no through road as there were meant to be sightings of Crested Penguins!! A very remote road with a small fishing community at the end - a historic pioneer spot. Millions of sand flies but no penguins apart from one which didn’t look too well! Quite an impoverished area. We pulled off on the side of the road for the night - stunning views over the
sea.
Thurday 5th March - Early start and drove back to Haast stopping by the beach for breakfast. Headed on over the Haast Pass stunning with very steep gorges. Stopped for coffee at Makarora didn’t time it too right as 2 coaches just arrived!! Eventually reached the lakes of Wanaka and Hawae - wonderful area and very hot. Wanaka is a lovely town. Enquired about the Siberian Experience - 30 min flight into Mt Aspiring mountains - 3 hour walk through the bush - then a jetboat ride back to Wanaka. Weather changing tomorrow so next possible trip would be on Sunday!! Did a bit of shopping and then drove back along Lake Hawae to a wonderful DOC (Department of Conservation) campsite called Kidds Bush - turned off on a gravel track for 6Km and there it was beside the lake beneath the mountains - quiet, serene, loads of birds - fantastic.
Friday 6th March - Rained hard overnight - but sun coming through in the morning so had a short walk in the beech woods before breakfast and then made our way on to Queenstown over the Crown Range with ‘switchback’ roads.
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