The Haast Pass

Woke up extra early for a morning hike towards the Sawyer Burn Hut. Not a particularly long one, but we did have to climb over 500 meters. So that was steep, but the view over Lake Hawea was worth it. Just when we wanted to leave the sun broke through, which made it even better. We walked back down to the campsite and packed our tent.

A stop at the Blue Pools proved to be an excellent lunch spot. The naming was a bit odd as it was a river, but we'll take it. The car park was busy and the trail too, but once at the river we found a relatively quiet spot in half shade to eat lunch while watching others swim in the cold water or attempt stone skipping. Naturally we also tried to skip stones, but we weren't very successful. Probably in the tennis category for us.

The route we took went through the Haast pass, but we were not in a hurry. There were mountains all around us, some with snow on top. Very pretty! Next stop was the Thunder Creek Waterfall, which had a great free fall. We stopped at one more waterfall, roaring Billy, before turning into our campsite of the night in Haast. A bit pricey and nothing special but we took it for the lack of alternatives. It wasn't that late yet either so we could still enjoy the sun on the grass field before cooking dinner.Read more