A forgotten land
THE West Coast has a strange power of attraction. Its wild coast, untamed rivers and dominating rainforests have attracted curious and determined visitors since Aotearoa was first settled. Māori visited the coast from at least the 1300s to gather pounamu, mainly from the waters of the Arahura River. By the 1840s, pākehā explorers such as Charles Heaphy and Thomas Brunner were venturing there searching for land to open up for farming. Yet, in spite of the draw the region has on people, it wasn’t until 1960 that the road linking Haast and Wānaka was finally completed.
As with many before me, it was curiosity that drew me to the Coast, especially to the area south of Jackson Bay, near Haast.
Our plan was to tramp
