Rob Roy Glacier to Jackson Bay

By Jen.

After hiking 59 kms (36.7 miles) in 4 days, we were ready for a break. So, we rested the day we got back and then spent the next day restocking on supplies. We had planned on finishing off the area by hiking around Lake Sylvan, but rain had set in. So, instead, we drove out of the rain and towards Wanaka. Our plan was to do the walk to the Rob Roy Glacier lookout.

You can see the glacier, one of several, as you drive down the valley.

Beware of falling rock.

It was quite a warm day. Probably 70s. It was definitely a bit bizarre to be in such warm weather staring at so much ice and snow.

The river here is pretty-much pure glacier water.

From here, the plan was to drive to Haast. Supposedly, the highway from Wanaka to Haast was only completed in the 1990s and is really remote. So, we weren’t expecting very many people along it. We were very wrong. Places were packed. Our only saving grace is that we tend to start early and finish early. The next morning was cloudy and rainy, which messed with some of our plans, but we were still able to visit several places.

Fantail Falls was flowing strongly.

These falls were essential in the development of the highway, turning a water wheel (whose platform you can still see) which powered drive compressors for the machinery.

We passed over the Gates of Haast, a particularly devilish section of the road to build. Sheer cliffs wide apart, raging river below.

The water flow powerful enough to already begin to break apart the retaining wall under the bridge.

Thunder Creek Falls.

There were lots of impromptu waterfalls and rivers that morning.

Upon arriving in Haast, we decided we would take the lonely road to Jackson Bay. It just so happened that we would arrive in time for lunch, so we decided to eat at The Cray Pot, a tiny, colorful restaurant in a tiny settlement at the end of the road. We arrived before they opened, so we took a walk to Ocean Beach. Worked up a good appetite for the delicious fish and chips as the restaurant.

Stranded jellyfish.

Teeny fish in a creek.

The orange building is the restaurant. In the beating that former cyclone Fehi issued upon the land, the beach lost a couple of meters of shoreline, bringing the ocean that much closer to the cafe.

We finished off the day by visiting Lake Ellery and Hapuka Estuary Walkway.

Lake Ellery, whose peacefulness was only broken by the sandflies and the jet boats.