Todays mileage was 266 Kms from Fox Glacier to Wanaka. Overnight the wind howled shaking the van from side to side and the rain fell. And fell. And more fell. The West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand is not Verdant for no good reason. I can now spot a sand fly at 50 paces before it chomps on me. My initial chore of the day was to empty the portable sewage cassette and the waste water tank. Something I had pushed to the back of my mind on day 1. But now I needed to get on with it. The facilities at the camp were very good and I must say that the experience, whilst not rating as one of my most memorable was not one that I would fear when the time came to repeat it. We set off around 10am and struck south on highway 6 for the first town of note called Haast. One must remember that on this coast there is hardly a straight stretch of road at all. That coupled with scenery to take your breath away would mean that slow progress could be expected. However, driving rain reducing visibility to a matter of 50 metres at times slowed my speed. When we climbed up the twisty roads to skirt the peaks that line this route mist and cloud reduced progress to under 40 kms an hour at times. But it was still staggeringly beautiful. A sensory overload. What struck me was how few cars we saw. I know we are coming to the end of the kids school holiday but I was not expecting to see less that 15 cars on the entire journey. If I were to pick one section that epitomises the entire route it would be the section over the Gates of Haast. The road climbs up into the clouds, then dips down into a chasm of a valley where mist and foaming water churn past huge boulders. It then climbs steeply and windingly away up into the mist again before continuing on through native bush untouched for Millenia. The smell of the wet native vegetation was heady, the roar of the numerous waterfalls fuelled by the downpours were deafening and the misty mountains all around were surreal. No wonder this is Lord of the Rings country. Orcs could be hiding anywhere. We needed frequent stops to rest, for this was intense stuff. We are now camped for the night in Wanaka. The daily chores of emptying the rubbish, sweeping the dirt that gathers on the floor of the van out and refilling the water tank are done. I need to rest. I need to remember what I have seen today. I somehow need to store away the images that made me gasp in wonder, shout look at that to Debbie and crane my neck to see just another waterfall whilst trying to keep a 2 tonne van on a slither of wet tarmac. I’m exhausted but exhilarated. Can the rest of the journey ever compare to this? We shall have to see. I will leave you with a few photos that encapsulate todays experience.
Emptying the grey water tank is a bit of a fiddle but not so onerous. It is a necessity to be done every 3 days or so.
The road lies ahead. Time to go on the next leg of the adventure. Weather looks ominous.
Even though State Highway 6 is the main arterial road on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, in common with many strategic roads, bridges tend to be one lane only. Here is one example over a river of cast iron lattice construction. Give way signs indicate who has priority.
The road often skirts the sea and today the weather had whipped the waves up into a frenzy.
Our first rest break at Lake Paringa. Whilst Debbie brewed up some fresh coffee I took the chance to snap some photos of the creek that ran through the site. The sand flies took the chance to feast on my bare legs as I had forgotten to apply my repellant!
At our second stop at Mount Pleasant it rained so hard that I took a photo out of my window instead.
The girder bridge at the Gates of Haast. One of dozens of similar construction all along this route.
The waterfall cascading under the above bridge at the Gates of Haast.
The final leg of the journey took us along the eastern edge of Lake Wanaka as shown here and through The Neck which is a small valley over to the western shore of Lake Hawea and down into Wanaka. It was still raining when I took the photo. The clouds were being shredded by the wind and in the far distance snow was lying on the mountains flanks. The Remarkables.
Woodend Wanderer 