Feb 12, 2013 - Haast

Drove south along the coast again today. We are now at the little town of Haast, population about 300. It was named after the Austrian explorer Julius von Haast who was here in the 1860's. The Haast Eagle is also named after Julius von Haast. This bird, if living today, would be the largest eagle on earth. They have been extinct since about 1400. The Moa, a giant bird similar to an ostrich was hunted to extinction by the native Maori people by 1400. The Haast eagle used to attack and kill Moas. When its food source became extinct, the...

Jan 31, 2013 - Haast and Jackson Bay, West Coast NZ

Haast is named after the German geologist Julius von Haast, the first European to explore the Franz Josef Glacier. Haast is made up of several small settlements spread over a 50 km radius and include Haast Junction, Haast Beach and Haast. It's a bird watcher paradise. Unfortunately we had too little time to really get into the bird watching, even though we brought our binoculars, specifically for that. We did get in one of our hikes in Jackson Bay, have to keeep moving...

Mar 16, 2012 - Heading to West Coast

HOW CAN IT JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER?!?! We had the most interesting day driving  nearly 7 hours across the most beautiful land. After taking off from Queenstown, we chugged up Crown Range Road, the highest road in NZ! The views are vast & indescribable. Tall, rugged mountains that appear soft & ferns growing out of rock cliffs everywhere u look! Kauai-like! Stopped at a 149 year old hotel for homemade cheese scones in Cardrona. Ummm! Some NZ'ers from Nelson stopped by to visit us at our table on the back lawn. We talked for a long time &...

Oct 5, 2011 - South Island - Day 3 The Trip to the Glaciers

After clearing up the apartment and saying goodbye to Mt Beetham Street we started on our trip north via the west coast to the Frans Joseph Glacier. We travelled through terrain with snow clad mountains clear lakes sharp bends and valleys with green fields and thousands of sheep stopping only for a coffee and cakes until we reached the Tasman Sea at Haast We went through the Haast Pass road which follows an ancient trail used by Maori travelling to the West Coast in search of pounamu/greenstone/jade/nephrite and was only opened for motor...

Sep 16, 2009 - Día 14: Hokitika - Haast

Hoy el laguito ha resultado no ser tan espectacular como el de ayer, pero no estaba mal. Las instalaciones no eran tan guays, pero es que este costaba 3 lerus por persona y noche!! Hoy vamos a ver dos glaciares, el Franz Joseph y el Fox. En NZ hay un montón de ellos, pero lo inusual es que estén tan al Norte y tan cerca del mar. Estos dos quedan a unos 6 km. Cogemos la frago y tras dos horitas y media de camino llegamos al primero. Andamos unos 45 minutos desde el aparcamiento y llegamos al frente del glaciar. Es ESPECTACULAR! Ahora mismo...

Jul 20, 2009 - Haast

This morning kicked off with a walk around Lake Matheson which is famous for its reflective views of the Southern Alps and Mount Cook in particular. It was a cold and frosty morning which made for an ideal view and good photos, and that was followed up with a walk to the face of the Fox Glacier before my travels had me heading further south towards Queenstown. The already fantastic scenery has gone up a notch if thats possible as the scenery becomes more alpine, its all a landscape photographers dream.

Oct 7, 2008 - Hokitika - Haast

Depart Hokitika: 2580 km (09.50) It's 18.25 and we're in a pretty crummy motor park in Haast, which is basically a collection of dwellings, a fuel stop and an empty, tiny supermarket and nothing going on. We've already been here an hour and had a cup of tea. There's not much to see or do and the fact that we are surrounded, in very close proximately, by about 30 other campers is enough to keep us shut up inside! Not our idea of a good time sitting in a car park with other tourists. Anyway, Nick will make us a nice dinner and we might even...

Feb 29, 2008 - Fox Glacier to Haast

Traveling today. Rain and more rain. Fox Glacier to Haast, February 29, 2008 We were up early as usual and down to breakfast at 8 o'clock. It was heavily overcast and drizzling or raining most of the time we were driving. First across a wide valley inland, into the rugged forested area and then out to the sea coast. At Bruce Bay we stopped at the beach for a few minutes to look for smooth, oval, white stones which are a tourist attraction. A quick stop at Knights Point lookout was spectacular but not a photo op due to the weather. We...

Feb 20, 2008 - Jade, rain forests and glaciers

Back on the bus to Hokitika, where we visited a jade factory (and of course showroom). The Mauri call jade Pounamu. Another name is greenstone. Of course this particular stop was not a cheap stop. Be sure to ask about Frank’s ring and my bracelet and earrings when we see you next. We continued down the highway, traveling through dense rainforest to the World Heritage Westland National Park. The coastline is rugged and the plant life abundant. The annual rainfall on the east side of the Alps is around 6 inches a year and on the west side...

Nov 21, 2007 - Fox Glacier to Haast South Island 11th to 12th November 2007

Sylvia's Comments. Today was our lucky day. Shortly after arriving at the tour office we were taken to the helipad and once I had two boots on I knew we were going on our trip. Jeff and I were in the last helicopter to go up so we watched the others climb aboard and set off. After a wait of 16 minutes it was our turn to climb on board and set off on our trip. Although our guide, Lucia, had told us we were flying with the grumpy pilot he still gave us a nice flight up to the top of the glacier before turning back down and heading for the...

Nov 3, 2007 - The Road to Lake Moeraki

Day 28 On the Road to Moeraki. Pat and I decided to walk into town for breakfast this morning and the Lakeside Café' got the call. It was a heck of a lot cheaper and better than the hotel buffet and it included a super view of the Queenstown docks early this morning. We made a quick stop at the local supermarket, the size of a good White Hen Pantry, back home and picked up some wine and treats for the next three days Budget Rent-a-Car was next. We were pleasantly surprised to find we had been given a complimentary upgrade to a Hyundai...

Aug 24, 2007 - There is life after a heli-hike

After the heli-hike we drove on through Haast to a campsite that is the last one on the west coast before the mountains and the fiords. It was a bitterly cold night (thank goodness for the fan heater) and the bike saddles were frozen solid in the morning but as we had arrived in the dark we went for an early morning cycle and walk to find the sea... by jove it was cold! After 25 min walk through swamp/lagoons and across small streams disturbing the herons and ducks we found a very deserted long shingle beach covered with debris...I mean...