From Wanaka at the end of the Haast Pass we head up to Omarama for another geological wonder, the Clay Cliffs.
We miss timed it a bit and got there pretty much at noon which meant the contrasting light made photography difficult but hopefully the epicness of the landscape still came through.
The Omarama Clay Cliffs are on private land and there’s a honesty system donation to enter.
Formed from millions of years of sediment deposit at the bottom of a lake then uplifted and tilted, the Clay Cliffs are a classic example of what is termed “Badlands erosion”
They really are spectacular.
Kylie has a much better and more scientific explanation of these formations.
Here’s what she said
“I still remember the first time our lecturer brought us here and told us to “run wild and free” as he explained to us this magnificent example of tectonics in action. The Clay Cliffs are sedimentary deposits that were once the base of river bed. Due to the position of the Ostler Fault line under the South Island of New Zealand the river bed has been uplifted overtime and then eroded to form these strikingly alien planet like features.
New Zealand is an amazing country to see Earth in motion, similar to Iceland where tectonic forces are still very much at play building the landscape as we speak. Unlike Australia that is so ancient it only erodes now.
Anyway the Clay Cliffs are totally cool, I’m still finding new parts of it to explore every time I come back.”
Click to make the photo go biggish
it was still a little chillyIce
After spending most of the afternoon here we jump in the van and make tracks up to Aoraki aka Mount Cook.
We’ve seen some amazing thing so far and the next adventure was one I was looking forward to.
We opted for a super early wake up at Bruce Bay and made our way down to Haast for breakfast and coffee. Today we would be driving the Haast Pass, in an of itself a great scenic drive but we were leaving ourselves plenty of time for exploring.
Haast Pass is home to some of the most popular canyons in New Zealand. It would be too cold to descend them this time but with the constrictions often ending in stunning waterfalls just off the road we planned to take most of the day exploring them.
Some of the waterfalls are sign posted tourist attractions, others you just need to keep an eye on the bridge names and find a place to park. We had several picked out that we wanted to check out but there were plenty more.
Note: The Haast river is known to have Didymo, an invasive fresh water algae also known as Rock Snot, so if you enter the river bed or water it’s important to Check Clean Dry shoes and gear before entering another waterway or traveling.
Anyhoo our first stop.
Depot Creek
A camping area on the right just after the bridge made a good spot to park and a trail headed off leading upstream. Less then 5min later we came to the 10m tiered Depot Creek Falls.
Click to see the full photos
Imp Grotto
When I say the canyons open with a waterfall near the road, Imp Grotto finishes right under the bridge. We had to park a little up the road and walk back but it’s a cool spot
Roaring Billy
Not far up the road Roaring Billy falls is a signposted tourist stop. A dedicated parking area gives access to a trail that takes you down to the Haast river for views across to Roaring Billy falls, it’s around a 30min round trip with a bit of time taking photos. Thou the mountain mist made getting a decent shot hard today
Douglas Falls
Another small waterfall right by the road
Thunder Falls
Thunder falls is signposted with a constructed tourist walk down to the stunning 30m waterfall
Pyke Creek
This one was a little harder to get to. Being directly fed from the Brewster Glacier the water is even colder. Kylie decided to sit this one out. I carefully made my way up stream on a rough track that at times traversed narrow ledges. Im handy in the outdoors and a good scrambler with a head for heights but this was at the limit of what I was willing to brave on my own in unfamiliar terrain so take care.
In summer you might be able to work your way up the creek itself but I’d imagine with ice melt the water flow would be treacherous as the canyon descent has rarely been repeated.
Fantail Falls
Another signposted waterfall with dedicated car park and walking track to views across the river towards the falls.
Robinson Creek
One of the more popular canyons in the area for which the bottom chamber is easy to get to
Wilsons Creek
The show case canyon in the area, Wilsons creek is spectacular and if you are willing to brave cold water and wet feet you can visit the last little bit just in off the road.
Other waterfalls within 5min walk of the road or visible from the road that we didn’t visit this time around include
Orman Falls (10m high)
Joes Creek Falls (150m High)
Gunboat Falls (150m High)
Diana Falls (15m High)
We decide if possible we’d spend a night at a van park to get a descent shower and stuff. A quick google search revealed Mt Aspiring Holiday Park to be cheap as chips and referenced something about a hot hub.
Calling ahead the lovely Erin assured me they had plenty of spots and if we could get there by 6:30 we could book the last allocation for the hottub.
How mush is it said /i
$10 each for 25 minutes. Says she
Book us in said I.
We got there around 5 and Erin informs me she’d given us their best non-powered site. She wasn’t wrong, close the kitchen and amenities while not too close but better it gave an amazing view out the back of the van to the snow capped mountains reflected off the lake.
No only that but she also said no one had booked the 6pm spa spot and she was keen to leave early so if we wanted to pick up the key to the spa at 6 it was ours for the night, just put the key in the safe when we finished. Winning.
But wait, there’s more!
Um, I saw a sign for a drying room how much is it to use that?
What gear do you have?
Just some old boots, we were in the Haast and have done the check and clean and gave them a good scrub but it would be good to get them dry.
Oh yeah of course, no charge. Leave them outside the door and when I get a chance I’ll pop over turn the heating on and put them in for you.
I like Erin.
So that’s an unpowered van site, pretty much unlimited use of the hot tub (TBH we were tired and hungry so only took the 30mins anyway but still.) and they turned the ski gear drying room on all night just for us for a grand total of $68NZ.
We do a nice diner in the kitchen, get a good night sleep and then head to the Clay Cliffs of Omarama
On a massive high from Franz Josef Glacier we take a tip from Maya and head for Bruce Bay to find a camp for the night.
Maya explained not only was it a great freedom camp but in local Maori legend, Bruce Bay was where the semi mythical Māui first landed in New Zealand.
To gain land Māui had to kill the two Taniwah that guarded the bay. The name of the headland at the western end of the bay, Heretaniwha means “to tie up the monster”).
Archaeological evidence points to human occupation back to the 14th century and mind boggling in modern times Maya’s family farm has been there from the start….
Anyhoo it was a great spot to finally catch a west coast sunset.
And with the sunset the clouds dispersed and I took the opportunity of dark sky and milky ways.
But we didn’t stay up too late as we wanted an early start the next day to explore the waterfalls of Haast Pass.
From Hokitika Gorge we slip back into town and head to Sunset point for diner in the van.
I’d never seen the sunset over the ocean before, Unfortunately the cloud cover closed in an all but blocked it out.
Not to be discouraged I thought I’d try my hand at some more arty farty photos at the memorial and art works.
Driving into town I’d spotted a sign post for glowworms.
I know we had just done the most amazing cave tour but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I will never not be awestruck by glowworms.
Lucky Kylie shares my fascination with the little shiny slugs with their little glowy bums.
If a cave tour sounds a bit too strenuous or clautrophobic for you I have some good news.
The Hokitika Glowworm dell is literally (Literally babes) 50m off the main highway in a shady, fern filled gully. A concrete path leads you in.
Tip: either use a red light (even a bit of coloured cellophane or contact over your torch) or hold onto the hand rails turn your torch off and let your eyes adjust.
From here it was on to a highlight in a long list of highlights from this trip Franz Josef Glacier
Continuing on from Charleston we chug on down the coast calling in to the unsign-posted and little heralded Hatter Bay,
Then another beach
even the sea was frothing
and the push on to Punakaiki to check out the famous Pancake rocks.
We arrived late afternoon in drizzling rain but made a dash around the short circuit walk, before camping nearby and coming back the next morning in what we thought would be “better light”. TBH the rainy afternoon photos picked up the contrasts and colours much better.
sleepwhenwearedead 