Haast is named after the nearby River Haast which was named by the “discoverer” Haasst after himself. Under instruction I read: it didn’t say whether he protested. The 92 residents probably don’t care.
Today we entered the UNESCO South West New Zealand World Heritage area. I did wonder if the whole world is a heritage area in its own right, just not recognised by a scrutiny committee — churlish of me. Anyway it is beautiful whether it’s rain or sun.
We got plenty of both of those today – no views of Fox Glacier nor Mount Cooke, just lovely mist clad green hill sides. Bruce Bay was a sound and vision treat as the waves crashed in.
Hills gives thinking time. The kiwi is endangered. As a flightless bird it is vulnerable to predators – all introduced species. First there was man, then followed stoats (brought in to control the introduced rats), then possums (brought in from Australia). There are efforts to make it predator free: a mammoth task (they are extinct though).
Tomorrow the penultimate day. The motivation briefing amounted to “the riders on previous trips found this the toughest day of all”: so 6:00am start it is (full waterproof gear to the ready!)
Travelling reflections 