Goodbye isolation, and hello again to people - Day 4 ends in Wanaka

selfie time

something about lunch wasn't good or fair

 

Our accomodation in Haast was lovely. It was nice to be in a house, in the middle of nowhere, with space and quietness.

The birds were loudly awake by 5:30am and so then was I. We wandered off around 7am to see the lay of the town - police, fire and ambulance, a hall, a pub, a shop and a playground. We found the only place open which also sold coffee. It had typical resort prices - where coffee was properly expensive and food was cheap (not that we were buying any). We got home at 8, had cheese, ham and tomato toasties for breakfast, packed up and were on our way.

We had planned the day yesterday, with it all mapped out and planned. The Haast Visitor Centre was the first stop. I liked the geology learning of it all as well as the commitment to wetlands. The kids weren't as excited.

Then the quest for waterfalls. Roaring Billy Falls first. Cool place, with cool big glaciated pebbles, pretty blue water in the river and a loud waterfall. The boys did what boys do with a river and round pebbles - try to skim the stones - with some success. Worth the stop. But no toilets.

Stones

More stones

But, what awesome pebbles they were

It looks better from afar

The toilets came at an unexpected stop of Pleasant Flat which actually had one of the most stuningly clear water we've ever seen. Part of the river reminded us of our jet boat ride on the last trip - the river, with low hanging trees and all the river stones.

pretty still, clear water

I knew it wouldn't photograph well, but all the pebbles are sparkly schists

Waterfall 2 was the Thunder Creek Falls  - not a bad waterfall after a very short walk. Parking is just off the road, which you need to cross before heading into the forest.

Waterfall 3 was the Fantail Falls. This was the first time we had a crazy and nuts parking situation with inexperienced and inconsiderate drivers with no idea how to park in a way that let everyone enjoy the space. We think that it's also the carpark for the much longer Brewster Track which is an all day advanced tramping affair. A far as waterfalls go, it was good, but probably the least of the three.

The two older kids braved some chilly water to get closer

Then, of course Jonty found an easier shod way, as Logan contemplates crossing the deeper water to get even closer.

The last stop was the famed Blue Pools. They are probably worth the hype but it's the sort of trip the tour buses do, being only an hour out of Wanaka and the hoards particpate in.  This makes for good people watching. The colour of water is a stunning blue, intensified looking down into the water. It was also good for skimming rocks. Expect clips of the boys appearing in some tourist's photo reel as we saw them being filmed from our vantage point of the bridge. There's heaps of parking and we used the chance to grab a snack before heading into Wanaka.

Not very swinging swing bridge (good)

It really is this blue

Looking like we are having fun and not getting attacked by sandflies

view from the bridge of the boys skimming rocks

What it all looks like from the bridge

The drive is uneventful for the most part. You drive alongside the Haast River and after a few corners (none of them scary or hair raising) we spotted mountains, mountains, mountains! "Ah," say Logan. "I get why people come down here."

Eliza wasn't feeling too well and needed to get some zzz's so we checked into our accomodation. It's an odd layout in that you have to go through the kid's bedroom to access the bathroom. There's a supermarket literally next door and a shopping mall across the road. Traffic, people, noise. It's quite the contrast. David and I went to the store to buy the necessary requisites for dinner and breakfast tomorrow. We forgot the milk, and a key ingredient for dinner, but we did remember cider and icecream.

The lake is very close, so David, Logan and I went for a wander. Saw That Wanaka Tree and all the people getting photos with it (I don't get it), tried not to get run over by backing campervans, and learning from our mistakes to cross the road away from the busier intersections. It's also very windy beside the lake.

David and the kids are scheduled for an adventure scaling a waterfall tomorrow, but the weather forcast isn't the best. They will get a call tomorrow at 7:30 to give the final call on it being on or not.

In some ways it will be nicer not to have it happen tomorrow. Slow and sleepy marks the afternoon. Time to make some dinner.