Day 12 - Long travel day to Okarito

Today we drove a lot, a lot. But first things first. The day started with a lot of errands in Wanaka ... for example, exchanging my new hiking soles, groceries, and so on.

Then we drove along the beautiful Lake Hawea (by the way, 410 m deep) and Lake Wanaka up to Haast Pass. At the highest point, we took a short hike to a viewpoint that offered a view of the entire pass. Everywhere there were ferns and mosses, turning the path into a kind of enchanted forest. Another 2 km further, we made a stop at Thunder Creek Falls, a spectacular waterfall, and had our first encounter with the infamous sandflies - tiny bloodsuckers (only the females) that swarm and cause itching. Chemistry helps. We continued past waterfalls, fern forests, gorges, and giant trees until we reached the West Coast after 2 hours. The winding coastal road stretched slowly. You hardly pass through places, see very few houses, and there are almost no cafes or restaurants along the way.

Actually, we should have been able to see Mount Cook again from the other side, but it was foggy this afternoon and we could only look at postcards of what it could have been like.

We stopped again at the Franz Josef Strauss Glacier and set off on foot to the glacier after deciding against another helicopter flight. I don't think a helicopter flight would have been possible today with the low clouds. I didn't hear or see a single one flying tourists to the glacier. You were only allowed to get to 1 km and even from there, despite the low clouds, you could see the size and beauty of the glacier. At the same time, the extent of climate change is clearly visible here, or you can see it explained on signs how the glacier looked in 2009 or earlier.

Finally, we reached our accommodation for today: the tiny village of Okarito by the sea. The sun was shining here and there are about 20 houses, no shops, no noise, just peace, the sea, and nature. We are staying in a kind of converted container. Quite funny in any case.

I was just running on a trail... also nice. Norman and I haven't agreed on what to do tomorrow so far. Let's see, maybe nothing. :-(

According to the plan, we have to move and drive the car in any case.