After a very restful sleep, we woke to the sound of crashing waves on the shore, which turned out to be heavy rain on the corrugated iron roof. No high tides or stormy seas, just solid rain. Very depressing.
First stop, the sock factory, which still produces socks, with hand dyed wool. Very expensive at $40 a pair.
Skeins of colourful hand dyed wool. The finished socks are on the wall on the left of the photograph.
The knitting machines still in use in the factory.
A small sock knitting machine. These machines were used by people in their homes, in order to earn some money. A cottage based industry.
Another piece of machinery used in the home - a knitting machine. It was possible to knit a jumper in an evening.
At first we could not see anything, other than the road ahead. The clouds hung low over the moutains and the rain fell relentlessly. This was going to be a very wet trip, with no views of the rugged mountain terrain. We once had an argument about the rugged scenery, the first time Walter drove through the Haast, as he could only see the bush at the side of the road. No mountains, no peaks, no dramatic steep cliffs.
And suddenly the rain stopped, the windscreen wipers were turned off, and the surrounding countryside looked so much better. However it was very much Lord of the Rings countryside still, with the mist hanging low over the mountains.
New Zealand bush is so dense in some areas, to walk a few metres into it, could result in being immediately lost. Impenetrable.
We drove over many, many single lane bridges. Love them.
A picnic lunch in the sunshine at Bruce Bay, with its stoney beach.
The amazing views from one of the popular viewpoints.
The twisty roads, winding around the coast.
The long Haast bridge, with two passing bays. An extremely wide river bed, which can be a raging torrent when in flood.
Haast is now a reasonably large village, which caters for tourists, fishermen and walkers, with a few holiday makers thrown in. And millions of sandflies.
We followed the road alongside the Haast river, which was probably just a track used by walkers and four wheel drive vehicles 60 years ago. Then the Haast Pass road was built, which opened up the lower part of the west coast.
The Haast river, with the mountains towering above.
The Gates of Haast, which look so tranquil in the photograph below, but building a road through here was a nightmare. The initial bridges were washed away. When it rains the water comes through the narrow ravine with a huge force. It is also not the place to be when there is a landslide or when it snows.
We followed the road up through the pass, then through some more bush, until we reached the edge of Lake Wanaka. After winding around the edge of the lake we drove over the narrow strip of land which separates Lake Wanaka from Lake Hawea.
The high moutains towering above Lake Hawea.
Finally we arrived at Brian and Susanne's house. It was lovely to see them again.
Now the rugged West Coast, wild and untamed, seems like a dream.
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