Roaring Billy Day After

First, we just have to check out what The Roaring Billy Falls look like a day after the rain. It is absolutely amazing.

Roaring Billy during the rain

Where there were dozens of waterfalls there are one or two. Where the river roared past us, a peaceful flow is contained by the gravel braids. Check out the “rain swollen” and “day later” versions of Roaring Billy. Have to see it to believe it.
We detour a bit south to Jackson Bay a sleepy little fishing “town” about 45 KM south of Haast. No beach, just a long, working wharf and a cute little diner, the Craypot. We take a few to soak in the view then its back toward Haast. Along the way we find a quiet spot to wander out on the beach. The surf is rolling and sand stirred well out into the Tasman Sea. We catch a few pictures but opt not to put our toes in just now. Moving on we check out a lovely quiet interdunal lake at Ship Creek. The walk includes a viewing platform with a nice view of the ranks of dunes that run down the coastline reflecting the retreat of the sea over the ages. The road follows the coast with great views of the driftwood strewn beaches. This is a beautiful coastline. Further north we pull inland and overnight at a Dept of Conservation Campground, Paringa Lake. It is a lovely campground with only 12 sites along the little lake shore. But; The DOC does not manage usage even with reservations required. By the end of the evening there are over 50 campervans squeezed into the little cove. Good thing the lake didn’t come up. People had to move to let each other out! Folks are well behaved and all settles down by 9:30 or so. It is an awful impact on that area though. NZ DOC has a lot of work to do to get a handle on the heavy tourism on this coast. We head out early.