Queenstown to the Westlands

Aug. 10

After leaving town about 11 ( didn't want to leave too early as the passes can be icy) we headed out west via the Haast Pass. There was a walk we wanted to do where we could possibly see our 3rd kind of penguin the Fiordland crested.  We drove through Wanaka and stayed around there unproductively a bit looking for a store. Our campervan ticketed for "in courteous parking" which was a complete crock as we were in-between two other big caravans. Yes it's possible to park in between lines with these beasts but then it leaves 2 other spots useless on either side. Park in the middle and only 2 are used. Besides, the lot was mainly empty. I guess parking "parking authorities" are dicks wherever you go.

Our "in courteous" Van

The River Anduin

After that we headed out to our destination, the Munro Beach Walk, a bit north of Haast as we got there it was getting a bit late-ish and the days are shorter here. We made sure we all had flashlights or headlamps before we started out. Beautiful trail to the beach. The path itself was paved, board covered or bridged over the wetter parts and the surrounding trees ferns and mosses made it look positively primeval. We were going at a good clip in hopes of maybe seeing penguins but it would be nice to go back one day and take a more leisurely walk and do some more photography along the way. We got to the beach just as the sun was setting; alas no penguins. Didn't hear to many birds at all. Maybe we were too noisy. The beach was beautiful and would be great in summer. Even if it was a little cold we did wade in a little bit. Hey you gotta... it was a new one for us... the Tasman Sea.

By the time we headed back it was full dark. Since the path was so great it wasn't a problem. We still had to find our DOC site, Lake Paringa, somewhere up the road though. This is a bit more challenging at night since there is only one small sign and if you miss it.....We did find it though. One camper there ahead of us. Couldn't see what the spot looked like at night but that's ok. It was kind of a chilly night already and then unfortunately the heat in the camper van wouldn't work. Kept sounding and looking like it was trying but nothing warm coming out at all! It was a long cold night but we did have extra blankets so nobody was freezing but the air felt really cold on your face and head. Geoff started the engine up a bit in the morning to give us a bit of heat to get going and once we made tea/cocoa everybody felt a lot better. The next day turned out to be warmer as well which was nice.

Our spot by the lake was beautiful. Lake like glass with perfect reflections of the mountains in it. What was also pretty exciting to us was that there were 2 Kakas in the trees. We heard them first and then saw them, although not too well as they stayed fairly high up in the trees. They are quite unusual to find in the wild.