For another day trip on my week off, we headed up the North West shores of Lake Hawea to Makokora and The Haast pass, which ultimately leads to the West Coast. I imagine the Haast Pass is a wonderfully scenic drive (have you done it?) – we will do it at some point soon.
There are lots of short walks off the main route of the Haast Pass and one of them is The Blue Pools Track, which is a few miles north of Makakora and about an hour’s drive from our house. I would class this as a kiwi Must Do. The path from the road meanders through a silver beech forest, takes you over a swing bridge to the blue pools, which are glacier fed, and are a deep azure blue. You can see to the bottom easily – it’s SO blue. I wanted to go for a swim, but I suspect the water would have been nippy, oh, and I didn’t have any swimming trunks with me… So, that’s for the next time.
Visitors –we will definitely take you here when you visit, it’s a lovely little walk.
The Blue Pools are in Mt. Aspiring National Park, where dogs are not allowed, so The Spaniel had to stay in the DOC (Department of Conservation hut) on the edge of the park. As a result, we had a very pent up and hot Spaniel (it was a very hot day). We therefore headed on back towards Hawea, but stopped at the North end of Lake Wanaka to give The Spaniel a spin and a swim.
A beautiful place. We plan to explore Mt. Aspiring Park some more in the near future.
Two Hoomans And a Spaniel In NZ 