Today we drove from Haast to Wanaka where we will spend the next couple of nights, unfortunately we stared off in drizzle but to be honest it wasn’t cold so not too much of a problem as we have the right gear. Our first waterfall isn’t actually on any map, the lady that ran he B&B told us about it. You had to trust the directions as the turn off was a gravel track that did turn into a parking area all be it rather waterlogged. We then found a path through the trees that was rather overgrown but just about visible which we followed up and we were rewarded with a great stepped waterfall that was gushing with water, the only problem was that it was rather overgrown so it was difficult to get a good view. We then went to Roaring Billy Falls which was a walk though more rainforest to the falls, Thunder Creak Falls was the next stop which were also impressive. Then it was time to head to the Gates of Haast which strictly speaking are not waterfalls but very large rapids. We drove over the bridge and parked in the carpark only to find that you can’t actually get down from that side so we jumped back in the car and drove back over the bridge and parked in the lay by then walked down to the creek to look at the ‘falls’ up close. As with all the other rivers, waterfalls and creeks we have seen today that colour was stunning – so turquoise as they are all fed by the Glaciers. Our final waterfall of the day was Fantail Falls which are indeed in the shape of a fan, the falls feed into the river which again was a really vibrant colour. By this time we had crossed the Haast pass and the weather began to clear although the wind was picking up a bit. We drove round to the blue polls which are actually rivers that are very clear and very deep. We walked down to the first swing bridge and stood looking into the water, the colours are fantastic and you can see all the way to the bottom despite it being so deep. They say you can see brown and rainbow trout in the river but we didn’t see any at this point. We then walked to the other swing bridge which is over a very deep part of the river which does actually look like a deep pool. We walked across the second bridge and peered down into the waters marvelling at the rock patterns under the water. We came back across the bridge then walked down to the waters edge, as we were standing looking at the water a couple of Americans actually jumped off the bridge, they looked very cold when they got out, not sure if they realised that the reason for the colour is that it is fed from the glaciers! As we walked back across the first bridge we saw some fish swimming around under the bridge, not sure if they were trout but they were definitely fish. We decided it was time for lunch so we thought we would drive down the road to Boundary Creek which is at the top end of the Wanaka lake, unfortunately it was a bit further than we thought but we eventually got there. The picnic area has a couple of tables down by the waterside which we had planned to sit at but it was rather windy so we ended up sitting in the car having our picnic then went for a walk round the lake edge. We then decided it was time to head to the accommodation but couldn’t help but stop a few more times especially at the viewpoints over Lake Hawea where the sun came out and we had magnificent views of both the mountains and the lake. The accommodation for the next couple of nights is wonderful we have a balcony that overlooks the lake and with the sun shining it is definitely a nice change from last night.
