day 18 - 1 september , to Wanaka

the first day of spring, and to celebrate we had wind, rain and sleet, and a little bit of sun!
To start the day we went again to Fox Glacier, and drove along the "access" road rather than the "view" road. 100m up a slushy gravel track, there was a brilliant view of fox glacier, Much closer than we got to Franz Josef. It was quite green and white, with huge cracks etc - very interesting. Also freezing with a strong cold wind and rain on the way back. Then we drove through rain forest and green paddocks, with mountains in the background, and suddenly, near Haast, the mountains come right down to the sea again, with brilliant views of blue ocean and rocks. Had some excellent fish and chips and salad, at Haast
Ater that we drove between snowcapped Alps, mostly next to a river bed (gravel and greeny water). Quite spectacular. As we climbed we came to an area where there was a narrow bridge, lots of rocks in the river, and rushing green water - the Gates of Haast. Stopped wherewe could, and took photos and videos, in rain and sleet (tiny bits of ice, not as big as hail). There are heaps of waterfalls cp,omg frp, tyje ,e;tomg smpw. etc, including quite long ones, you can see from the road, and often drop down to the roadside. In Aus we would give ones that big a name and put up a sign! Then we came t Lake Wanaka, which is aobut 50 kms long, and surrounded by alps, and we dirove beside it for a while, getting out every so often to take photos. I was glad I had my NZ hat and eventually put my big parka on. Just when we left Lake Wanaka, 400m on we came to Lake Hawea, on the other side of the road, just as long and just as beautiful!Drove along it for some way, stopping to take photos, etc
! Now I am sitting in the (heated) lounge at the caravan park, looking out the big picture windows at a view of the Alps ove r the Lake.
Awesome!!
When I lay on my bed, I see snow capped mountains out the window. Awesome!

On our way in, we stopped for afternoon tea at Puzzle World, a big complex with a maze, illusion rooms, a big cafe area with puzzles on all the tables, and an angled mirrored ceiling in one area. We are going back tomorrow for a good look - it seemed very fun!