The lowest pass over the Divide, the line of Southern Alps that cuts down the South Island, is called the Haast, after one of the first Europeans to come here. There is a great gorge here, which was only bridged in the 20th century, called the Gates of Haast.
From here we drove down to Haast township and then south to Jacksons Bay. This tiny place was the site of an ill-fated settlement in the 1870's, which gradually melted away as settlers found easier and more profitable places to settle. When you consider the astonishing challenges of bush and climate in Southland or the fringes of Fjordland, you can see that the isolation, topography and vegetation must have been daunting indeed. Now, there's a wharf supporting the whitebait and cod trade.
We didn't see any major wildlife, though a nice bush track to the even more isolated Ocean's Bay we heard a lot of birds.