We got to the Blue Lakes by 8.30am and went on a 40 minute walk, crossing two swing bridges and dodging sand flies. The Lakes were very pretty but the water level was surprisingly low.
The plan for the day was to visit the West coast at Haast, wind our way through the beech forests along the coast and get to the glaciers.
The forests were amazing if not a little intimidating due to their sheer scale. We overtook many cyclists who were attempting to travel around New Zealand in the pouring rain.
Driftwood and stones at Bruce's Bay
Haast beach was beautiful and completely empty - something to do with the sand flies I think - so we travelled on towards Bruce's Bay where the beach was littered with piles of stones all dedicated to loved ones.
The Fox Glacier
The glacier walk we went on was a little hard going to start with, scrambling over piles of glacier melt slurry and areas where the path had collapsed over time when we got our first glimpse of the ice cave we were astounded at the size. The cliffs around us were vertical and the noise of the helicopters and people on scenic flights echoed all around us - combined with the noise of the melt water nothing could have prepared me for the experience.
The Franz Joseph Glacier should have been easy to access but we opted for a challenging view point walk as my guide book said it was the best place to see from - it certainly was but it involved a near vertical climb for about 30 minutes.
Franz Joseph Glacier
A fern that Paul found on the walk
My Stevie Wonder impression in awe of the glacier
We had driven a long way but pressed on, visiting Lake Matheson - famed for it's magnificent refelction of Mount Cook. Unfortunately, as usual the weather was not helping and the wind had picked up as well as the cloud so we got no reflection - we didn't hang about for long, got back on the road and spent the night at a DOC site at the Macdonald Lakes.
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