Cycle Touring on the South Island of New Zealand

by Susan Otcenas

Thursday, January 6th, 2005 - Makarora to Haast

Distance: 80.1 km
Average speed: 18.3 kph
Time in saddle 4:22
Max speed 59 kph for Susan - Jeff 68kph
Departure 9:30 am
Arrival 4:30 pm
Another warm & sunny day!!!

Today was a relatively easy day, with Haast Pass being the only climb of any (minor) significance. Plenty of time to play!

A mere 7.5 km into our ride, we stopped at the trailhead for the Blue Pools Trail. An easy 20 minute walk through a lush forest took us over a narrow pedestrian-only suspension bridge and to the namesake Blue Pools. The pools are a still section of the Blue River, where the water is an amazing turquoise blue. The color is caused by light refraction on the icy water. The pools are home to giant trout circling lazily in the still water.

Suspension bridge

Blue pools

Back on our bikes, we continued the climb to Haast Pass. We've heard it's often rainy at the Pass, but we were fortunate to get plenty of sunshine. Soon we were zipping down the descent. We stopped at the pretty Fantail Falls (Have I mention the rock collection we've started? Stooopid cyclists, collecting pretty rocks.).

Fantail Falls

Collecting rocks

Once again back on our bikes, the road suddenly dropped very steeply. Jeff soon zoomed away out of sight. I'm more conservative, and the steepness of the road frightened me a bit. Eventually I pulled over to allow my too-hot-to-touch rims cool down.

Soon enough, the road dropped down to cross a one-lane bridge over the "Gates of Haast". The canyon we were descending in narrows significantly at this point, causing the river to crash and roar through the narrow area. The water churned around house size boulders, making one ponder the incredible force required to have moved those boulders into that position.

The Gates of Haast

House-sized boulders

More descending, more waterfalls, more descending… Jeff rated today's descent as his best ever (too steep for me, but fun nonetheless).

Eventually the road leveled out again at nearly sea level, and the difference in climate on this side of the Pass became much more noticeable. The air was warmer (mid-80s) and much more humid. The vegetation was lush, with giant ferns growing everywhere. After several days inland, our break from the sandflies was over and we now had to contend with them again. Drat. I'm sure the mix of sunscreen, bug repellant and sweat did wonders for my skin.

Giant ferns

Geocaching is a hobby that involves using a GPS unit to navigate one's way to a particular location and find a hidden "cache", typically an ammo box or some other waterproof container. Caches contain a log and tradeable trinkets. You can read about geocaching here. Since this is a hobby we pursue in the US, we thought is would be fun to try some here in New Zealand. Our first cache of the day was the "Convenient Spot Cache" where we left a Travel Bug to find its way back to the U.S. Check our Travel Bug's current location here.

Our 1st New Zealand geocache

Our second geocache of the day was at the appropriately name "Cache Creek". Who could resist? We left a small fish flashlight/keychain.

Cache Creek

The rest of the day's ride followed the ever widening Haast River as it slowly mad it's way to the sea. The previously close canyon walls widened out and flattened. Just before the day's end in the small township of Haast, we caught a glimpse of the bridge that would take us north over the Haast River and up the West Coast. The route planned for the next day is long, and Jeff's cold has finally caught up with me here in Haast.

NEXT PAGE: Haast to Fox Glacier