Revisiting the Haast Pass

Saturday 8 November

Grey and wet much of the morning - not a problem for us as we can come back here again and again, but I did feel sorry for the tourists who are on a strict itinerary as they whizz round all the tourist spots. There were a few dots of blue through the grey, but it took most of the day to break through.

After lunch there were hints of brightness and more sun promised by the weather apps so we wrapped up warm and headed back over the Pass.

First stop was at Wilson Creek chasm - we first heard about this on a Leopards Go Wild reel earlier in the year (and found it on several reels subsequently) and it was truly amazing.

The little creek tumbled gently into the river on one side of the road, but on the other side was a spectacular chasm which you could walk up inside… though the water was icy cold and you had to paddle up to your knees through the creek. The vastness of the chasm was incredible and I can’t wait to explore it better in warmer climes. In the first pic above, the little tiny white dot in the background was a young woman in a white skirt - which gives a sense of perspective. Louis took the last pic using a "dramatic" effect - it makes me laugh, with me peeping out and waving from behind a rock, a three-legged person in front of the rock and a photographer with his grey camouflaged arse in the air!!!

Our next stop was Fantail Falls which was super popular with far too many cars and campers trying to squeeze into a small carpark. The falls were gushing after all the storms of the past month and Louis waded across the Haast River to get a closer look, but my feet didn’t fancy another dunking!

Onwards to the Gates of Haast passing several waterfalls and views of the river along the way. The "Gates of Haast" is the bridge which crosses the river at the start/end of the big hills of the Pass. The river tumbled and roared over the rocks either side of the bridge, but we couldn’t get too close as the land around the river was quite unstable (didn't phase some other tourists, however.)

As a reward for our adventuring we then headed back through the Pass and got Louis a coffee and a pie from the Wonderland Lodge - check out the special endorsement on the pie warmer!

Then as the sun peeked through we went for a walk in the bush around Makarora and got serenaded by more Tui & korimako 🎶. The Charteris Track walk was partly on DOC land and partly on private land, which is subject to a QEII National Trust Open Space Covenant, allowing us to cross it so long as we stuck to the pathway.

After the beech woods of the upper West Coast and Alpine slopes, the woodland here was quite different with a variety of flora. I was particularly taken with the gorgeous crown fern with it's unfurling fronds that look like Chinese lanterns.

Up in the trees and bushes we were serenaded by piwakawaka (too flitty to capture on camera!), tui, little tomtits and the chiming bell bird, korimako with its funky blue face.

Back to Banjo for dinner and a gentle sunset over our beautiful valley. As I took off my shoes, something looked odd - picked them up and realised that the sole had come adrift on one foot, and was looking shaky on the other. Spent the evening with Abby online trying to track down exactly where & when I bought them as we both bought the exact same shoes from Mountain Warehouse at some point on our travels together! Finally our Sherlock Holmes work pinned it down to MW in Rotorua on the second day of Banjo's Odyssey back in December 2024 (ie less than a year ago - yay, warranty claim!)