Rumored to harbor biting “sandflies” so thick they sound like rain pinging against your tent walls, my feelings about our West Coast exploration were mixed. Also in store, however, were narrow glacier-filled valleys stretching almost to the sea, hot springs deep in the wilderness, and endless seaside vistas!
Princess Evie - adorable!
Our first stop was our second New Zealand home — Makarora. Emily, Chris, Evie and Hunter are a super fun family, and we’ve lucked into attending a community event almost every time we visit. We enjoyed a few relaxing days of familiar faces, and then we finally crossed the threshold to the West Coast! Having spent about six of our twelve months covering only 25% of New Zealand, I was anxious for new territory. However, every time I lamented this fact aloud, both travelers and Kiwi’s alike repeated the same refrain: “It’s the best part anyway!”
Climbing up over Haast Pass, we were treated to waterfalls swelling with recent rainfall and peephole views through cloud cover up to the peaks. The “Gates of Haast”, a bridge over a gnarly gorge-in-the-making, and the winding road slowly being washed into the river were awesome in that thrilling, ‘fear-of-mother-nature’s-raw-power’ sort of way.
At the Haast Visitor’s center we’d learned about whitebait — a West Coast icon. I’d assumed it was a type of fish. You know… trout, salmon, cod, whitebait. Not so. A few miles down the road, we followed handpainted signs past piles of rusting farm yard junk to a modern
whitebait pattie on the grill
manufactured home. A banner above the garage welcomed us and the smiling proprietor had a whitebait pattie on the grill straightaway. This mystery food consists of small aquatic creatures bound together with beaten eggs. When schools of whitebait are scooped into nets at the river mouth, they resemble 2.5 inch guppy jellyfish (no such thing, but imagine a translucent guppy sans legs). The writhing mass of clear worms would make an awesome stand-in for “monster brains” at a haunted house. Freeze them to death, thaw them out, beat some eggs, pour them into the whitebait, ladle onto grill, flip, eat! When cooked, the whitebait turn… well, white. The patty looks like a bunch of white worms (eyes, spines and all) twisted together and tastes like fish. I’ wouldn’t buy it at a restaurant or bother making it for myself, but I’d eat it again!
Afterward, we headed for the Copeland Valley trailhead where we braved sandflies and got ourselves sorted for the next day’s hike. To make ourselves feel better about our losing battle (2 humans versus 25 million sandflies) we came up with a list of reasons that sandflies aren’t as bad as mosquitoes.
1. Sandflies stop biting after dark.
2. Sandflies don’t make an annoying buzzing sound that keeps you awake all night
3. Sandflies can’t bite through your clothes, so being covered in them isn’t that bad.
4. Sandflies are heavier and can usually be felt when they land, unlike sneaky mosquitoes.
5. Sandfly bites don’t swell up into monstrous welts (although they itch just as badly).
6. If a sandfly is biting you, you can guarantee yourself the sweet satisfaction of revenge (SANDFLY DEATH!). Blow on it and it will cling to your skin as you slowly and accurately squash it.
Shortly after the sandflies went to bed, we crawled in and began dreaming of the next day’s hot springs!
See sandfly swarms, local Speights action, and Pat and Hunter’s motorcycle madness by clicking here.
Nice comment on sand flies, however, I noticed that they not only itch, but hurt as well. Little bastards!