Lake Wanaka to Glacier Country

Tuesday 17th February 2009

Another bright and sunny start to the day and another day on the road.
Today we were headed for Franz Josef Glacier.

Thanks to some marvellous weather the journey, views and photo opportunities were great!

We followed the SH6 from Wanaka all the way to Franz Josef. The route took us in between the two lakes, Wanaka and the equally beautiful Lake Hawea. We then proceeded through the Mount Aspiring National Park.

Mount Aspiring NP is New Zealand’s third largest and enjoys World Heritage status. The scenery ranges from snow- and glacier-clad mountains to rugged rock faces, spectacular forested valleys and picturesque river flats.

At the Gates of Haast bridge, the Haast River roars down a steep-sided gorge strewn with boulders, we could not believe the size of the boulders and luckily, managed to get some pics.

After crossing the Haast Pass we stopped for a short diversion and walked down a forest track to Thunder Creek Falls - 30m falls which drop from a notch in a rock - spectacular (there’s that word again!).

Through Haast Village and on to Lake Paringa we stopped for a picnic lunch before continuing on along SH6 and eventually entering Westland National Park, home to Mount Cook (the highest mountain in New Zealand), Fox Glacier and Franz Josef.

Westland NP stretches from the top of the Southern Alps in the east, where it shares a common boundary with Mount Cook NP to the Tasman Sea in the west. This NP is renowned for its mountain peaks, dramatic glaciers, dense rainforest, coastal lagoons and beautiful lakes.

A winding and twisting mountain road brought us to Franz Josef, a small “village” a base really for tourists exploring the Franz Josef Glacier terminal face. The weather had deteriorated a little and low cloud and drizzle obscured our view of the glacier. We had hoped to visit the “mirror lake” (Lake Matheson), but the weather put paid to this plan!


After strolling through the village and doing a little shopping(!), we decided on an Indian takeaway for supper and so made our way back to our motel uncorked the red wine and settled down for a night in and an early night, in preparation for our walk to the glacier tomorrow!!