Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haast Lodge
( 03-750 0703, 0800 500 703;
www.haastlodge.com
; Marks Rd, Haast Village; sites from $16, dm $25, d/tw $55-65,
units d $98-130; )
Covering all accommodation bases, Haast Lodge offers clean, well-
maintained facilities which include a pleasant communal area for lodge-users and camper-
vanners, and tidy motel units at the Aspiring Court next door.
LODGE
$
B&B
$$
Collyer House
( 03-750 0022;
www.collyerhouse.co.nz
;
Cuttance Rd, Okuru; d $180-250; )
This gem of a B&B has
thick bathrobes, quality linen, beach views and a sparkling host who cooks a terrific
breakfast. This all adds up to make Collyer House a comfortable, upmarket choice. Fol-
low the signs off SH6 for 12km down Jackson Bay Rd.
WORTH A TRIP
JACKSON BAY ROAD
From Haast Junction, the road most travelled is SH6, upwards or across. But there is another option, and that is
south… to the end of the line.
The road to Jackson Bay is quiet and intensely scenic. Towered over by Southern Alps, the farms on the flat
and the settlements dotted between them stand testament to some of the hardiest souls who ever attempted settle-
ment in NZ. Up until the 1950s, the only way to reach Haast overland was via bush tracks from Hokitika and
Wanaka. Supplies came by a coastal shipping service that called every couple of months or so.
Besides the ghosts and former glories, which make an appearance here and there, there's plenty to warrant a
foray down to Jackson Bay.
Near Okuru is the
Hapuka Estuary Walk
(20 minutes return), a winding boardwalk that loops through a
sleepy wildlife sanctuary with good interpretation panels en route.
Five kilometres further south (19km south of Haast Junction) is where you'll find the base for
Waiatoto River
Safaris
( 03-750 0780, 0800 538 723;
www.riversafaris.co.nz
; Jackson Bay Rd; adult/child $199/139;
trips 10am, 1pm & 4pm), which offers a hair-tousling two-hour jetboat trip upriver into the mountains, then down
to the sea, with plenty of natural- and human-history stories along the way.
The road continues west to
Arawhata Bridge
, where a turn-off leads to the
Ellery Creek Walkway
, 3.5km
away. This pleasant amble through mossy beech forest (1½ hours return) leads to
Ellery Lake
, where a picnic
bench encourages lunch with perhaps a skinny dip for afters.
It's less than an hour's drive from Haast town to the fishing hamlet of
Jackson Bay
, the only natural harbour
on the West Coast. Migrants arrived here in 1875 under a doomed settlement scheme, their farming and timber-
milling aspirations mercilessly shattered by never-ending rain and the lack of a wharf, not built until 1938. Those
families who stayed turned their hands to largely subsistence living.
With good timing you will arrive when the
Cray Pot
( 03-750 0035; fish & chips $17-29; noon-4pm)
is open. This place is just as much about the dining room (a caravan) and location (looking out over the bay) as it
is about the honest seafood, including a good feed of fish and chips, crayfish, chowder or whitebait. Ask a local to
confirm current opening times.
Walk off your fries on the
Wharekai Te Kou Walk
(40 minutes return) to Ocean Beach, a tiny bay that hosts
pounding waves and some interesting rock formations, or the longer (three to four hour)
Smoothwater Bay
Track
, nearby.
