Tree stump, New Zealand style

Back blipped on 22nd April

We set off from Franz Joseph in the rain, back down the road to Fox Glacier.  We stopped briefly in the rain for a photo of one of the impressive "walls of fern" on the side of the road between Franz Joseph and Fox Glacier (see extra).  We had hoped to take a detour to visit Lake Mathieson, but were once again foiled by the weather.  So we pressed on southwards.  The weather improved markedly.  We stopped several times.  Unfortunately, the sandflies were out in huge numbers, many inviting themselves into the car, where they lunched comfortably out of the wind, before meeting a sticky end as a bloody splurge on the hire car upholstery!

We stopped in Haast at an information site, to get advice on a good short walk.  We were adamant we wanted no more to do with the beach!  They recommended the walk to the Blue Pools.   We also stopped to visit a couple of waterfalls, but despite the large numbers of other tourists the walk to the Blue Pools was definitely a good one.  We even spotted a rifleman, or Titipounamu, though once again I was unable to capture photographic proof.  

Our eventual stopping point was Wanaka.