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Update (2022): This post has been turned into Part One of a two-part post, of which the second instalment has been published in April 2022. This first instalment covers the journey from Makarora to the summit of the Haast Pass, or Tīoripātea, while the second instalment covers the journey from the summit of the pass to the township of Haast and its nearby attractions.
PARTICULARLY SCENIC is the section of highway that leads between Haast and Lake Wānaka, and ultimately to the town at the southern end of the lake, via the Haast Pass/Tīoripātea.
Historically, this was an important route for Māori pounamu (New Zealand jade, or greenstone) prospectors, as the top of the pass is only 562 m or 1,844 feet above sea level. This makes it the lowest of the passes traversing the Southern Alps. However, it is girded by mountains, and important tramping tracks branch off to the sides.
Nowadays, to get there you would probably set out from Queenstown, the site of the nearest major airport. Here's a map of the wider region, including Queenstown.
Driving north from Queenstown on the Crown Range Road, the highest sealed road in New Zealand, you arrive at Wānaka, an important tourist centre in its own right and the gateway to the Matukituki Valley.
(The name of Wānaka is often still spelt without the tohutō, or macron, which only started to become common in the last generation. The spelling 'Wanaka' is still, if anything, more common than the updated version).
You then continue on to the township of Lake Hāwea (also still very often tohutō-less on signs and maps), and then northward up the western shore of Lake Hāwea, crossing over to the eastern shore of Lake Wānaka until you get to the township of Makarora, where the Haast Pass/Tīoripātea Highway begins.
The English name of the highway, and the pass, commemorates Julius von Haast, a noted nineteenth-century scientist and explorer who spent more than a quarter of a century in New Zealand and was the first Director of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
Tīoripātea, which means 'the way ahead is clear', is the older Māori name for the pass.
In the wider area, there are lots of short walks off the Highway between Wānaka and Haast, and a number of longer tramps, or hikes, most of which are spelt out in the following lists, which run from the Wānaka end to the Haast end.
· Mount Iron Track, in Wanaka township (1 hour 30 mins)
· Bottom Bay Track (on Lake Hāwea, not listed by DOC)
· Sawyer Burn Track (2hr to the bushline and return, with superb views over Lake Hāwea and into the mountains)
· Kidds Bush Nature Walk (30 mins loop)
· Makarora Bush (15 mins return)
· Blue Pools Walk (1 hr return)
· Cameron Lookout Walk (20 mins return)
· Haast Pass Lookout Track (1 hr return)
· Fantail Falls (5 mins return)
· Thunder Creek Falls (5 mins return)
· Pleasant Flat (5 mins return)
· Roaring Billy Falls (25 mins return)
As marked on Land Information New Zealand topographical maps, these are:
· Grandview Mountain Track
· Glen Dene Ridge Track
· Craig Burn Access Track
· Isthmus Peak Track
· Boundary Peak Track
· Mt Shrimpton Track
· Gillespie Pass Circuit Track (with sub-tracks and track and route to Crucible Lake)
· Blue Young Link Track
· Blue Valley Track
· Cameron Track, from a short side road near Cameron Flat (Cameron Flat Campsite is further along the road, about 1.5 km).
· Brewster Track to Brewster Hut, below the Brewster Glacier. Excellent views into the pass, and one of my faves.
· Makarora Track, which starts near a bridge between Kiwi Flat and Davis Flat
· Bridle Track, south from Haast Pass summit (an old route)
· Wills Valley Track, from the Gates of Haast Bridge
· Landsborough Valley Track, from Pleasant Flat (a big valley, like in the Wild West)
Plus, once you have got to Haast township, you can do a whole lot of local walks and hikes such as Ship Creek/Tauparikākā, the Haast-Paringa Cattle Track, and others.
In the remainder of this post, and its next instalment, I am going to describe some hikes and other places to visit along the section of the highway that runs from the Makarora to Haast. In the next instalment, I will also be talking about the walks and hikes around Haast township.
A later post will talk about the walks and hikes between Wānaka and Makarora.
Near Makarora, I took a photo of an information panel showing the highway and the things you can do along it.
Rather confusingly, Makarora is divided into Makarora Township near the head of Lake Wānaka, and then a bit further along in the direction of Haast, another township of Makarora. The second township is known to the locals as Makarora West since it is closer to Haast, though because the road is zigzaggy, it is actually nor'-nor'-east of Makarora Township by compass.
At Makarora (West) you can do the Mount Shrimpton Track, while stocking up on supplies at the same time. It's the village with an airstrip directly opposite. If you are low on fuel, don't go past the airstrip without gassing up: it's a long way to Haast.
A section of highway I had left behind me, from the Makarora area back to Lake Hāwea township, is now dubbed a Responsible Camping Highway. That means you can camp nearby for free if you have an onboard toilet in your van and a permit. This used to be called Freedom Camping but now it is called Responsible Camping. Lest you get a ticket, it pays to check the maps and the apps before pulling over, though.
Just past Makarora (West), we find the Blue Pools area, between Rainy Flat and Cameron Flat.
If you are planning on spending time here, Cameron Flat is a really good place to camp or park up.
As to how Rainy Flat got its name, maybe there was somebody called Rainey whose name was written down wrong. Or more likely, I think, just the rain, which gets heavier the further west you go in these parts.
Still, the beautiful Blue Pools never seem to be muddy no matter how much it rains. The Blue Pools are a gorgeous gem. They are not the only blue pools in New Zealand, made blue by depth and clarity of water. But they are very accessible from the highway, whereas other pools of this sort tend to be more of a hike.
This time around, I made a video:
If you are a keen tramper, you can carry on from the Blue Pools to do the so-called Gillespie Pass Circuit via the Wilkin and Young Valleys. On one of the occasions that I was in this district, that was in fact my intention. At that time, I was to spend a week as a volunteer New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) warden at a place called Siberia Hut, which is marked with a red rectangle on the following map.
As for the Gillespie Pass Circuit, I should say that I cheated a bit by getting a helicopter ride from Makarora to my billet at Siberia Hut, which is also a terminus of regular sightseeing trips by helicopter. So, ferrying me up there was nothing out of the ordinary for the local pilots.
The Gillespie Pass Circuit takes three to four days to complete. It retraces the steps of ancient Māori from Otago and Southland who used to visit the area to hunt and fish. While I didn’t complete the whole track, I was planning to do the Gillespie Pass as part of my role as a hut warden and so I had a key to the Young Hut as well.
Not a name to inspire much confidence in one’s expectations of comfort, Siberia Hut is located below Mount Dreadful and Mount Awful, which altogether make it sound like the Gillespie Circuit was going to be some epic journey out of The Lord of the Rings.
But then, the lovely little Crucible Lake is also nearby. In fact, it was a gorgeous day when I flew to Siberia Hut, as you can see!
I managed to get great shots of the beautiful Crucible Lake, or Lake Crucible – both names are used interchangeably, even in official maps and guides – which was dotted with ice.
Behind the lake you could see Mount Dreadful, which is 2,020 metres high and to the left of Mount Crucible. And then to the right of Young Hut, which we also passed over, you could see Mount Awful. From the helicopter, the full mountain range was a magnificent sight, though I wasn’t too keen on the names!
I was dropped off near Siberia Hut and given a locator beacon. There were also some men there doing some other DOC work for the week. They were to do some building, take out rubbish and helicopter in picnic tables.
The Gillespie Pass goes over from Siberia Hut to Young Hut and takes about six to eight hours to tramp, climbing up twelve kilometres through forest to the 1,600 metres-high ridge before descending into the upper Young Valley where the hut is.
I remember on the first day tramping to Lake Crucible, which is three to four hours away from Siberia Hut through the beautiful Siberia Valley, being completely blown away by seeing ice in an alpine lake close up.
However, it was the Gillespie Pass that most astounded me. It was the most beautiful pass that I’d ever been on in the country, and the blooms and the mountain lilies up there were just fantastic.
At the top of the pass there were rock wrens or tuke (pronounced 'tukeh'), also known as pīwauwau. These are New Zealand's only true alpine bird species.
That was a lovely day’s walk. For, I did not carry on but went back to Siberia Hut.
There weren’t so many visitors at that time of the year, but this hut does get overcrowded in the summer.
After that, I trekked over to Kerin Forks Hut, which is a two to three hour walk of some seven kilometres from Siberia Hut, passing through a forest and above Siberia Gorge.
After returning to Siberia Hut, I went over the Gillespie Pass to Young Hut where I was a warden for a few more days, and then I went back over the Gillespie Pass to Wilkin Hut.
Past Makarora, you get to a place called Davis Flat, from which the old Bridle Track to the summit of the pass commences. The Bridle Track was used in the days before a proper road went through (the road was only put through as recently as 1960). You can also hike up the Makarora Valley Track to Makarora Hut, taking in the Stewart Falls along the way.
Here's an information panel I saw:
The Bridle Track continues until the summit of the pass is reached, at 562 metres. In the old days the Bridle Track went further, all the way to Haast township on the West Coast. At the pass summit, there is also a lookout track.
For the second instalment of this post, in which I continue beyond the summit of the pass, in the direction of Haast township and its attractions, click here.
Automobile Association guide to the highway: aa.co.nz/travel/editorial/full-spectrum-from-lake-hawea-to-jackson-bay
DOC page on the Gillespie Pass Circuit: doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/mount-aspiring-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/gillespie-pass-circuit
If you liked the post above, check out my new book about the South Island! It's available for purchase from this website.
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