In the morning we drove 50km from Haast to Jackson Bay, the road goes straight through the rain forest and takes you to this very small fishermen village which is at the end of the road...or should we say at the end of the world!!! We did a 40min walk through the rain forest, under the rain :), to a secluded bay which gave us the feeling to be on an isolated island. When driving back to Haast we turned before the Arawhata bridge onto an unsealed road and followed the Jackson river for a few kilometers, we saw very nice and wild landscapes (if you drive the full 20km you have views on the Cascade River Valley and the Red Hills, we did not go that far as we though we would not see a lot with the mist). We also stopped to do Hapuka Estuary Walk (20min return) next to Okuru. A very nice walk which takes you through the estuary and a nice rain forest with Rimu and Kahikatea Trees. Back in Haast we had a quick lunch at the only cafe of the village and then headed to Wanaka. It took us nearly 4h to drive the 145km between Haast and Wanaka as we stopped a lot on the way to enjoy the beautiful landscapes. We did a few short walks to see the Roaring Billy, Thunder Creek and Fantail Falls. We also stopped to have a look at the impressive part of the Haast river at the Gates of Haast and did a short walk to the very nice Blue Pools. Then South of Makarora we saw a lot of deers and really enjoyed the very scenic views along the lake Wanaka and lake Hawea. After this great but long day we were glad to arrive in Wanaka to have some rest.
