The last day of November found us leaving Franz Josef for Wanaka. This is a beautiful trip, leaving the lush landscape at the base of the Franz Josef Glacier and heading along the coast until turning inland at Haast. As we headed south, out of the town, we had one last glimpse of the immense glacier towering over the town.
After a few short miles we were again driving along the coast with the Tasman Sea to our right and mountains towering to our left. Before heading inland, we came across this plaque commemorating the opening of the Haast-Wanaka road in 1965. 
Before that, you had to drive north and across Arthur’s Pass to get from the coast to Wanaka. This highway cut the drive from over 1,000 kilometers to less than 150!
Roaring Billy Falls
Just in from the coast we came to a bridge outside Haast township. Measuring 2,418 ft, it’s the longest one-lane road bridge in New Zealand, and the 7th longest New Zealand bridge overall. From Haast we started our climb up into the South Island’s Alps on our way to Wanaka on our old friend State Highway 6. Highway 6 follows virtually the complete length of the Haast River, sometimes at a distance and other times right along side the often roaring river.
In a wooded area, maybe 15 miles from Haast, we pulled into a small parking area. There’s a well maintained trail through some woods that suddenly opens up to the Haast River. The valley floor is wide, flat and covered with rounded stones of all sizes. We had fun exploring the riverbed and Roring Billy Falls. Then it was back to the car and we were on to Fantail Falls.
Fantail Falls
There’s a nice parking area at Fantail Falls, and the falls are just an easy five minute walk away. The segmented fan shape of the falls give it the obvious name. What made this place interesting to us were the stacked rocks. The riverbed is covered with millions of relatively flat, rounded rocks that have been work smooth by the water. Visitors have taken to making small stacks of the stones, and there are lots of stacks. One fallen tree is absolutely covered with various stacks from one end to the other.
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Crystal Clear Water
Blue Pools and Devil’s Bath was our last stop along the Haast river. While the walk from the road was a bit longer, it was well maintained path and took us through an interesting section of forest. As we came out of the woods we were first struck by the clarity of the water. The water was clear enough to see the fish when looking down from the high stone banks that are 20-30 feet above the surface. The colors of the water were astounding as well with various shades of blue and green. The trail along the river includes a couple of small suspension bridges that gave us a beautiful view up and down the river and provided access to additional trails. The hike was beautiful and presented lots of photo opportunities.
Approaching Wanaka
The last two stops before Wanaka were on either side of “The Neck”; a narrow, passable section between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. It seems like every five miles we came across another incredible view on the South Island and these stops were no different. Again, we stopped and marveled at the view and then took plenty of pictures. At one point wee could clearly see a shower coming across the mountains, miles away.
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That trip from Frans Josef to Wanaka took us from the foot of a glacier, along the ocean shore and then up and through the ruggedly beautiful mountains and finally down to another beautiful town. Set high in the ‘Southern Alps’, Wanaka was beautiful. Getting to Wanaka has to be one of the most interesting and varied drives we’ve ever taken, and it was all packed into one day.
Fantastic!!