Passing through Haast

Friday 7 November

Misty morning on the lake at Paringa - fascinating watching the light and the cloudscape change as the morning progressed. The sun tried to break through a couple of times, but the low misty clouds fought back, settling in layers across the lake and revealing the peaks behind them. Fewer tuis were out - maybe they like the sunshine as much as me.

Had a lovely long chat with two couples who had turned up to do some fishing & were tiki touring from Hokitika & Australia - boys talking Pajeros, girls talking caravans. The Aussie lady was interested to hear our thoughts on Banjo as her sister had one for 5 years and is planning to get another as she loves the Snowy Rivers so much - we definitely love the space and layout that Banjo offers.

Heading south we paused at Knight's Point for the view then stopped at Haast for refuelling (human at the bizarre Hard Antler Bar, Banjo getting a water top up at the dump station and Pajero guzzling diesel at a rather overpriced gas station) before we headed up along the Haast River into the most stunning of all the passes. Hiding under the cloud, the Haast river was a delicate aqua shade rather than the usual vibrant turquoise, and the mountains merged into the sky above, looking beautiful and ethereal, scattered with splashes of white snow and scarred by scree falls.We bypassed all the waterfalls this time and headed straight to Cameron Flat DOC camp at the Blue Pools so that we could nab a front row spot before all the tourist camper vans and cars arrived 😉

After settling into our space with a view up the valley, we booted up and took the path to the Blue Pools on the Haast River. When we came in summer the bridges had been damaged by the winter storms and were being replaced so then we just had a dip in the chilly river. Now the two new swing bridges are in place and you can cross to the ravine where the Blue River joins the Makarora River in a swirl of glorious teal/turquoise waters - just stunning!

We decided to walk on along the track towards the Young Valley (appropriately as that is Grandma’s maiden name) - though the trail was laden with obstacles. Fallen trees, low branches, mini rock falls, a stream and more - it was like going on a bear hunt! Nature had really put on a show along the pathway - schist stones defying gravity, mosses holding the forest together, fancy SideShow Bob ferns and very funky ferns. After a couple of km we came to an open meadow area with only light tree cover and the most amazing cacophony of birdsong. We spotted a few of the choristers but with the wonderful Merlin Bird ID app we were able to identify song from Tui, piwakawaka, redpoll, chaffinches, thrushes, blackbirds, grey warblers and of course korimako, bell birds.

Back along the forest track, avoiding the various roadblocks, we met a mad British lad going for a dip in the Blue Pools… even Louis was not tempted! I built my customary rock tower (so many layers with these flat pebbles) then we headed back, did a bit of "Marler Mash" on the swing bridge and looked down at where we had swum back in January... boy, was that cold even then!

We settled into Banjo for the evening (and to escape the notorious sand flies) as the sun left the snowcapped tips of the mountains around us. 🥰