About the Haast Pass

After spending the night in Winton and half a day at the library there, I headed back to Cromwell (where I had already been), thus already making my way towards the Haast Pass, so that I wouldn't have to drive as long on the day of the pass. I think with stops, I was on the road for about 2.5-3 hours from Winton to Cromwell. I love seeing new things, but I tell you it was so nice to drive on roads I had been on before, passing Queenstown, passing an old camping spot, and then arriving in Cromwell, where I had already slept. It felt like coming home; just having something familiar again was lovely. Yes, Cromwell was great, the night was warm, I woke up to the sunrise by the lake. There was access to a sink, so I could start my day in a civilized manner by washing my face and brushing my teeth. I originally wanted to drive the Haast Pass the next day, but the sun was shining, and Chat GPT said yes, Carina, the weather is fine. You must know that at home, I would have been terrified of such a pass, but here, all I cared about was the weather since I only have summer tires. And spoiler: it was not at all like I imagined. It was like a regular road in NZ; yes, it was winding, but that's usually the case, and it was neither steep nor anything else, just a breeze. I mean, eventually it did start to pour rain, which made some stops impossible (blue pools – already closed due to a broken bridge, Wilson Creek Canyon – which you shouldn't enter during heavy rain), I could see the canyon a bit as I drove by, it must be cool, but you have to get your feet into the icy water anyway. So I continued to the Fantail Falls, a very short walk and great to see (it's the wider but not so long waterfall in the pictures) and then on to the Thunder Creek Falls (the long waterfall) with also a small walk. And then I thought I was back in the Milford Region, huge mountains around me, mist and clouds, rain like crazy, and lots of waterfalls cascading down the mountains, stunning, I almost cried again haha. The last stop was the Roaring Billy Falls, but I'll be honest, it was a long walk there, and it was raining endlessly, so I skipped it, but I've already seen so many waterfalls now, so it’s fine. Well, not really the last stop, I was already on the West Coast, saw the sea, and then came a traffic light. We had to wait for 50 minutes (!!!). I will never complain again if I have to wait for 5 minutes. For understanding, there’s a construction site, and it was already noted that wait times could be up to 1 hour. But for it to actually take that long, unbelievable. Anyway, after that, there were a few stops with views of the sea. Then I arrived in Paringa, where there is no other free camp in sight, so I’m chilling the rest of the day here. Because tomorrow, dear friends of nature, something huge is happening, and I’m incredibly excited.