A long road over Haast Pass

Published: March 22, 2021, 11:14 a.m.

Once a walking track used by Māori heading for West Coast reserves of pounamu (greenstone), Haast Pass was first crossed by Europeans during the 1860s gold rushes. Construction of a proper road began in the 1920s and 1930s depression, with unemployed workers wielding picks and shovels – but the road wasn't completed until the early 1960s.