Ship Creek, Haast, & the Bridle Track

Writing 2007.11.12.0650 Edgewater Resort, Wanaka NZ

The lodge offered a walk on freshwater eel ecology at 0730 in the morning that Jonathan and I passed on to get caught up with our journals. After breakfast, I purchased the book on the west coast highway (Route 6) authored (and signed) by the two photographers we met on the Harihari Coastal Track a few days earlier.

Nicky drove us to a lookout point, which bisected the points on the road where we entered and exited the track yesterday. The lookout gave us a view of the beach to the south where we saw the most fur seals. We drove another 10-15 minutes to Ship Creek - so named for a shipwreck that came aground at the site. There were two trails there - one lead back inland along the creek to a kahikatea stand in the swamp, and a second trail led through a dryer rimu forest by a “finger” lake and back to the beaches. The finger lake runs parallel to the coast and is the result of the dune build-up and the vegetation that secures the dune leaving the shallow swale behind it that catches water.

Walking over the hill/dune from the lake, the beach opens and faces the Tasman Sea. The beach here was a mix of sand and pebbles. We spotted numerous dolphins swimming just off shore. One of them put on a show by jumping clear of the water twice. We wandered back up the beach, completing the circuit.

Click on the images for a larger view

The view from the overlook to the beach where we walked the day before. Notice the steep cliffs?

Into the woods again. Jim stoops to examine while Nicky and Pat proceed down the path.

The boardwalk through the kahikatea swamp.

Nicky leading the way.

Very dense secondary growth on the kahikatea.

Tree ferns also in eveidence.

Jonathan coming up the path.

Finger lakes are created when the dunes/vegetation build up enough to hold and collect water behind them.

A view of the finger lake and the beach.

A hebe variety - the pairs of leaves alternate 90° creating a square pattern looking down the stem.

Jonathan on the beach.

The single lane bridge over the Haast River.

The Haast Visitor Center had an impressive water feature.

Looking out from the visitor center.

We passed the convergence of the Haast and Thomas River as we drove inland.

From the information signs at Ship Creek:

DINOSAUR TREE

Kahikatea grows to 60 metres and is New Zealand’s tallest native tree. It has the oldest fossil record of any New Zealand tree, tracing back to the dinosaur age, over 100 million years ago. At that time ancestral kahikatea and its relatives were spread throughout the world. Today they are restricted to the southern continents, Indochina and Japan, while more advance conifers such as pines, firs, and spruces have evolved in the Northern Hemisphere.

On fertile flood plains and swamps, kahikatea often grow in close, arrow-straight formation, their crowns intermingling. Their spongy roots aerate, and adaptation for living in waterlogged soils. Many develop buttresses at their trunk bases for support on swampy sites.

Any large kahikatea living within the greater forest can be regarded as a community in itself. It will be host to many small plants, particularly climbing rata species as well as astelia lilies, orchids, ferns and lichens, which perch on the kahikatea but do not feed on it as a parasite would. Even small to medium-sized trees, such as puka and glossy broadleaf, ma find a foothold in the forks of a big kahikatea. Living to a grand age of 500-800 years, the Haast Plain kahikatea are truly the ancient monuments of the South.

CHANGING LEAVES

Juvenile and adult foliage are quite different. Young kahikatea have flat feathery leaves, while at maturity leaves are compressed and scale-like.

FRUITFUL KAHIKATEA

In autumn a single kahikatea tree may produces up to 800 kg of fruit and four of five million seeds. The dark purple seed is mounted on a fleshy orange base from which the botanical name podocarp (seed on fleshy stalk) is derived.

Birds need fruit from the forest to survive. Pigeon, bellbird, tui, kaka, and kea all eat forest berries and in doing so ensure that the forest regenerates and spreads to places which are still bare. In pre-European times, Maori set traps high up in forest trees, such as kahikatea, to catch birds to eat. Maori also harvested the sweet, chewy kahikatea fruit as part of their diet obtained from the forest.

New Zealand’s once extensive kahikatea forests have all but disappeared. Their timber, called white pine, was valuable and their preference for fertile lowland sites made them prime targets when land was cleared for farming. South Westland contains the last major stands of kahikatea forest, about 10,000 hectares in all, which is on estimate just two percent of what once grew in New Zealand.

MOSSES AND FERNS

Mosses and ferns relish he damp shady forest floor. Blechnums, Asplenium, and filmy ferns are some of the more dominant varieties here. Mosses are so plentiful that close observation within one square metre may reveal up to ten different varieties. The small ‘umbrella’ mosses are some of the easiest to identify.

In 1989 the Government formally protected the state forests south of the glacier region, including the precious remnants of ancient dinosaur swamp forest. Some fine examples of very tall kahikatea can be seen at the start of Monro Beach walk, 16 km north of here.

BEACH AS A HIGHWAY

Foot travelers heading south must have welcomed the open coastline after an inland journey to avoid the rock bluffs of the Knights Point area. Progress was straightforward along the beach, at least until the Haast and other big rivers were reached.

These early travelers would have included groups of Maori migrating between settlements, explorers, surveyors and 19th century gold prospectors. To avoid the dangerous rock bluffs north of here, an inland track was constructed in 1875 along the line of a Maori track. Known as the Cattle Track because of the stock drives which went along it, the route was up the Waita River (just south of here) over Maori Saddle and out at Lake Paringa (35 km north of here). Cattle now leave the district in trucks, and the historic track is a popular walk with trampers.

On a clear day look south west to Open Bay Islands, Taumaka and smaller Popotai, with Jackson and Cascade Head in the background. The islands, 4.5 km offshore, can also bee seen between Haast and Jackson Bay on the Hapuka Esturary Walk, where an information panel tells some fascinating stories.

Until the highway was completed in 1965, the roadheads were several kilometers north and south of here. Drive to the end of the road at Jackson bay, explore the area and read about the Maori and European settlers whose descendants still live in this remote part of South Westland.

Haast, a small village at the northern end of Fjordland, was our next stop. Highway 6 turns inland, following the Haast River up into the Southern Alps. We stopped for lunch at the Hard Antler Cafe (which had numerous antlers dangling from the rafters) for some fish and chips. The fish was fresh caught and the beer batter light, it was delicious and filling (the portions were generous) meal.

The highway follows the Haast River as it flows out of the mountains, and the trees reversed their progression going from the coastal podocarp-beech forest to the mountain beeches (silver beech), passing a lone rimu that seemed to stand sentinel in the valley. The road twisted and turned up to the top of the pass where we stopped to begin our walk. The Bridle Track was used prior to the construction of the highway through the mountains from the Makarora River valley, through to Haast, and up the coast to Lake Moeraki. [The Lake Moeraki Lodge was the camp for the construction of the highway.] Fortunately, we were walking down the trail (which is not always better than going up). The trail went through the beech forest with its under story of ferns. The weather is typically dry here, although we have been very lucky that we haven’t been rained upon in an area that gets over 250 days of rain in a year.

Click on the images for a larger view

Walking down the Bridle Trail from the Haast Pass.

Jim and Jonathan pause on a bridge to admire the scenery.

Tom walking down the trail.

Pat and Jonathan climbing the trail as Jim turns the corner in the background.

Looking down the Makarora Valley from a scenic overlook on the trail.

Another swing bridge to navigate.

Jonathan pauses before crossing.

The blue glacial waters of the river.

A longer view of the river from the shade of the forest.

Pausing at Davis Flat, the lower terminus of the walk.

Jonathan taking a few snaps of the river.

The Makarora Valley opened up as we drove further south.

A range of snow capped peaks marching off to the west, part of Mt. Aspiring National Park.

I was taking shots of the blue lake, and managed to capture this motorcyclist heading the opposite direction.

Lake Wanaka - the road hugs the east side of the lake before making an eastward jog through a pass.

Lake Wanaka looking north from Wanaka. Some folks in the van were enjoying the view.

The town of Wanaka at the south end of the lake.

Clouds backing up in the passes to the north - apparently the Westlands were to get rain the next day.

Nicky, who had driven the bus to the lower end of the trail, hiked back up the trail to meet us, just above another swing bridge. This one was not a precarious as the one at the Blue RIver Hut/Cattle Trail. At Davis Flats, we reboarded and continued our journey to Wanaka. The valley was wide, with steep sided walls with cattle and sheep ranches on the green valley floor.

Once checked into our rooms and showered, Jonathan and I walked along the lake into town, about a 30 minute walk, where we located an ATM and did a little exploring. We had made arrangements with Tom, Pat and Jim to have dinner at a restaurant in town, Missy’s Kitchen, that Nicky recommended as we were on our own for dinner. We had a very pleasant dinner and walked back to the lodge in the dark, although Jonathan and I were prepared and had our flashlights to guide the way.