After staying with family at a campground just outside Wanaka (The Wanaka Lake Outlet camping ground, away from the maddening crowd that Wanaka becomes in the summer holidays highly recommended) we were ready for our next adventure ... The Haast Pass.
You would be surprised how many New Zealanders have never been over this pass which takes you from Wanaka to Haast on the West Coast. It is the southern most pass that links the East and West of the South Island. This really is as unspoiled as New Zealand gets these days. It is certainly not a fast trot but the scenery is breathtaking and the bush land virgin. Although we were doing this in peak season, it was still not what you would call a busy road. Quite a few camper vans and cyclists and many many "one lane bridges"!
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| Lake Hawea |
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| The snow capped Southern Alps |
We stayed the first night at Okarito, just north of Franz Joseph Glacier. The campground is approx 20km from the main road but well worth the drive. It is quiet and only $12.00 per person per night with reasonable facilities. The beach looked good for a surf cast but somehow we just didn't get around to it.
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| Our neighbour at the campsite - a 1924 Dodge converted into a sleeper |
The journey up the West Coast is rivaled only by the East Cape in terms of quiet roads. You can travel for ages without coming across another vehicle. There are lots of "touristy" things to do, like visiting the glaciers, but not really our style of travel. We just enjoyed the drive looking for somewhere to stop before we reached Westport.
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| A tranquil West Coast beach north of Hokitika |
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| Punakaiki Pancake Rocks - well worth a look but make sure you go on an incoming or high tide |
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| Mouth of the river Nile |
We arrived at Charleston looking for somewhere to stay the night. We started up the track to the Nile Campsite but didn't know where the road was leading until someone told us later (but apparently worth the trek - take the road inland beside the Charlston Campground, approx 10kms up is a free campsite which started off as a festival venue. Has toilets. We will check it out next time).
So we headed back to the coast and happened upon the perfect place for the night. Right at the mouth of the river Nile someone has made a shelter out of pallets and driftwood.
What else to do than use the facilities to cook dinner then indulge in a spot of fishing with some locals who joined us to take advantage of what must have been the perfect tide. James caught quite a few kahawai (all released bar one that was gifted to the locals) and still had time to teach me to cast.
We pitched the tent beside that car and woke early in the morning intent on catching breakfast. I obliged with my new-found skill.
After a journey round Cape Foulwind (rather aptly named) and Tauranga Bay - a coffee at The Bay House is a must! - we headed through the Buller Gorge bound for Motueka. Here we stayed a night at Old Macdonald's Farm campground in Marahau (highly recommended) before checking into our next housesit in Ngatimoti. We can't wait to return to these parts sometime in the future.
So we headed back to the coast and happened upon the perfect place for the night. Right at the mouth of the river Nile someone has made a shelter out of pallets and driftwood.
What else to do than use the facilities to cook dinner then indulge in a spot of fishing with some locals who joined us to take advantage of what must have been the perfect tide. James caught quite a few kahawai (all released bar one that was gifted to the locals) and still had time to teach me to cast.
We pitched the tent beside that car and woke early in the morning intent on catching breakfast. I obliged with my new-found skill.
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| Breakfast anyone? |
