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haast
 Driving towards the southern end of the South
Island’s West Coast Road, there is a strong sense of
entering a primeval land, and a feeling of total isolation.
Arriving at Haast, you are surrounded by a landscape of
rainforest, wetlands, sand dunes and surf-pounded shingle
beaches. This wilderness forms part of the South West New Zealand
World Heritage Area, so designated because South Westland and
Fiordland have some of the most dramatic forest and mountain
scenery and natural resources in the world.
 Haast township is actually three separate
communities forming one town. There is Haast Junction on the
highway, where you will see the prominent World Heritage visitor
centre. Just 2 km east is Haast township with a supermarket,
café, and places to stay. A further 2 km along the road is the
tiny settlement of Haast Beach.
The surrounding area has some well-developed walks including the
Hapuka Estuary Walk, which leaves from the motor camp, and the
Ship Creek Walk, starting half way along the road to Lake
Moeraki. These walks and others cross the wild Haast coastal
plain, where complex dune systems shelter tiny lakes and many
fine stands of kahikatea, New Zealand’s tallest tree.
 The coastal plain continues for some 50 km south to
the remote fishing village of Jackson Bay, where the long West
Coast Road finally ends. This former seal-hunting base, tucked in
behind the sheltering Jackson Head, is one of the remotest places
on the New Zealand roading system. It has the distinction of
having a higher population of fur seals and penguins, than of
humans.
In the Jackson Bay area you will find the incredible Red Hills
and Cascade River valley. These areas have changed little since
the early explorers first discovered them, and are well worth a
day’s tramp. The red colouring is caused by high
concentrations of magnesium and iron in the rock, which was
thrust up by movements in the Australo/Pacific tectonic plate.
There is a timeless, spiritual quality to South Westland. The
booming Tasman Sea, deserted beaches, dense lowland rainforest
and forbidding mountains are hauntingly beautiful.
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