Driving to Franz Josef

According to the GPS my drive from Wanaka to Franz Josef would take close to 4 hours... It really took me 6 hours because I stopped almost every hour for a walk through nature because the view was just unbelievable.

My first stop after leaving Wanaka Bakpaka – a hostel with horrible Internet service but a gorgeous lake view, enormous kitchen, and friendly people – was to complete the 30-minute walk to the Blue Pools along highway 6. These pools are fed with glacier water and when there is no sediment at the bottom they reflect the most beautiful light turquoise color. My short walk to the pools made me cross a couple of tension bridges that gave me bouncy steps.

After the blue pools I stopped five more times before finally arriving at Franz Josef! I just couldn’t help myself from eating a snack and then doing a few yoga poses in front of the Fantail waterfall.

I couldn’t stay in the car when a sign said 5-minute walk to Thunder Creek Falls.

I had to eat whitebait and have coffee at the Okoto Espresso in the tiny town of Haast. Can you see the whitebait's eyes?

Oh yeah, and I just had to stop at Knights Point when I finally made it to the west coast of the South Island.

And before making it to Franz Josef I had to walk up to the Fox Glacier view point!

Around 6pm I finally made it to my new hostel.