Arising early, we drove to Lake Matheson, the lake with the stunning view of Mt Cook - best at dawn and dusk. While not exactly reaching it at dawn, we were the only people there and drank in the beauty. We were joined by many waterfowl who made lots of noise and churned up the water. A slight walk away then back again saw us get the ideal mirror like picture!
After a hurried second breakfast at a salmon farm, a jet boat tour of the Waiatoto river was up next, one of our most anticipated adventures after the abandoned cave rafting. This was not your typical thrills and spills (well splashes) New Zealand jet boat tour but rather the boat was the means for us exploring the back country of the South.
We met Ruth, our tour guide and driver, and found we were the only members of the party that morning. (Samuel also met the cat which belonged to Ruth's daughter, needless to say the cat did not join us.)
The tour was amazing, instructive and much longer than we anticipated.
The tour took in a 'days trek on horses' of the Waitoto river with a number of educational stops. Ruth showed us a view of the Kiwi sanctuary, an area of land which is isolated and where kiwi, over a year old and bred in captivity are released back into the wild. Did you know that kiwi can live for 50 years and mate for life?
The trip took in a long stretch of the river, we passed over the tectonic plate divide, learned about the plans the people of Haast have for the next inevitable earthquake of magnitude 8 expected within the next 50 years. The plans include stashes of food and supplies in various places in the bush because the river is the only transport for some farms in the area and it may become impassable.
The tour took in the whitebait spawning area and adjoining fishing area. We observed some very frustrated fisher people as the whitebait are certainly not spawning this year. This may be due to the changes to the inlet, now very narrow due to changes in the sand bar.
We finished the trip with a spin due to Ruth's seven-year-old daughter pleading with her mother to splash us.
Another long drive hugging the coast brought us to the Cray Pot, a seafood shop at the end of the universe (the end of the road down the west coast anyway). We travelled there on the advice of Ruth. The Cray Pot is a caravan on the beach at Jackson's Bay. It specialises in fish and chips and oh my were they great. So fresh and hot. It was strange to drive so far, see a large caravan on the beach near a tiny cluster of dwellings and a long commercial jetty. There were so many people there - more than the number of dwellings by far. All relaxing on picnic tables under a sail. The view was spectacular, the atmosphere warm but the isolation and feeling that you were at the end of the world prevailed.
Driving on to Wanaka for the night afforded another spectacular drive up the Haast valley and along lake Wanaka including a few stops including a visit to the Thunder Creek falls.
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