5th - 6th April

Reluctantly we left our lovely apartment in Wanaka today, Wednesday 6th April, and headed north towards Haast on the West Coast, a World Heritage Area. The disappointment of leaving Wanaka was more than made up for by the journey. It was a stunning drive, past Lake Hawea

and then along the northern shores of Lake Wanaka. With the snow capped mountains the vistas were stunning (Lakes Hawea and Wanaka practically





meet). It was difficult not to keep stopping to take photographs.

We were recommended a walk about half way along our route - The Blue Pools
http://www.aatravel.co.nz/101/info/The-Blue-Pools-of-Haast-Pass.htm. This was a 15 minute or so walk through ancient native bush and forest to the pools, which really are a river. We had to negotiate a shaky bridge on the way





but it was worth it. A real hidden gem





The trees in the forest were amazing, all sorts of shapes and sizes and were very ancient











Leaving there we then entered the Haast Pass. This journey is described as one of the most scenic in New Zealand, and it certainly lived up to that for me. We drove between high bush covered mountains alongside the Haast River which varied from rocky rapids to smooth flowing. Some of the mountains were snow capped which made it all the more magical.





On arrival in the township of Haast, no more than 3 or 4 motels, a store and a cafe (so it seems), we checked into a motel then took a drive to Jackson's Bay. We had no idea where we were going, we just liked the look of the road on the map - a dead end coastal road that ended at Jackson's Bay. It was well worth taking the chance as it was lovely there





On the way we crossed many bridges with amazing views





and we stopped at a couple of wild and windy beaches on the way back.
Another stunning day in this beautiful country.

We woke on Tuesday 5th April to another sunny day and we decided to do one of the walks we had discovered in a Wanaka brochure. 'The Outlet Track' runs 2.5km from Lake Wanaka to Albert Town and follows the Clutha River. This mighty river, the longest in New Zealand, starts it's 330km journey here and ends in the Southern Ocean at Balclutha where we were on 27th March. This river also has the reputation of being the swiftest running river in the world.
The walk was lovely, with the autumn colours at their best





We were hoping, upon arrival in Albert Town, to have lunch and other 'necessary comforts' but we found nothing and were told that there was a pub some distance away. We decided it would be quicker to return to Wanaka, which we did. A most enjoyable and scenic walk.
During the afternoon we paid a visit to the 'world famous' Puzzling World. http://www.puzzlingworld.co.nz/
We didn't do the maze but spent some time being somewhat gobsmacked by the Illusion Rooms. Very weird and sometimes very funny.

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