West Coast to Jackson Bay

Today we continue south. The first stop is the Franz Josef Glacier, from the now paid parking lot (5,- / 2.5 € per hour) it takes me 15 minutes to reach the viewing platform. The glacier has lost about 800m in the last 8 years due to global warming. You are not allowed to get any closer, the ice is no longer safe, so you can't see much. Despite the cloudiness, I head to Lake Matheson, known as the mirror lake; on a windless, clear day, New Zealand's highest mountains, Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, spectacularly reflect in the dark lake waters. Well, it is cloudy and not windless, but during the one-hour walk, I still get some nice impressions. Back on SH6 towards Haast, I stop now and then by the sea or at viewpoints, enjoying the waves and the beach. In Haast, a dead-end leads to Jackson Bay, where there is a famous snack bar with delicious food. But they close at 3:30 PM, it is 3:00 PM and still 48 km to go - quite ambitious and yet in vain. Here there is one of the few natural harbors on the West Coast, which the Kiwis use diligently as a landing place; there are surely 30 SUVs with boat trailers parked around. Loading is very simple: the driver maneuvers the trailer into the water, the boat captain sets their boat onto the trailer with a determined throttle, and the unit roars back up the slope - without getting out. It looks cool; in 10 minutes, it happened 5 times.

I actually wanted to stay here overnight, but the sandflies are too annoying. Even in a remote section of the beach, which is actually perfect for a lonely night by the sea, smearing myself does not help. I smell like a lime infusion in a sauna, but the little bugs are completely undeterred. So back 48 km to Haast and follow SH6 away from the coast along the Haast River further inland, where I can finally have some peace. A simple DOC site in the mountains is enough for the night.