If you’re visiting Wanaka or Queenstown for the ski season, it’s worth planning some day trips for your days off. One option we’ve written about previously is taking Lake Hawea Road for a trip to Makarora, but if you’d like to explore further west, continue on from Makarora to Haast on the Haast Highway.
It’s about a two hour drive to reach Jackson Bay and the scenic mouth of the Okuru River and lagoon from Wanaka. Plus, along the way you’ll find plenty of excellent places to stop – the Blue Pools, Haast Pass, the Gates of Haast and the Fairy and Thunder Creek waterfalls. There are also a number of short hikes in the beech forests, and on a nice day it’s worth timing your arrival on the coast to see one of the beaches at sunset. You can still be back in time for dinner in Wanaka!
If you’re heading out for a longer tour of the West Coast, then don’t rush the drive to Haast. There are some great hikes and stunning camping sites, as well as the better known scenic stopping points.
A big thank you to Melanie Tollemache for providing the majority of this week’s photos.
Makarora River
Once you leave Lake Wanaka behind, the Haast Pass-Makarora Rd follows the Makarora River. The mountains on either side of the road climb steeply out of the valley and many are capped with snow in winter. There are plenty of stopping points, but one of our favourites is at the Cameron Flat Campsite. The views up the valley are fabulous, and from here there’s a link to the Blue Pools track.
The Blue Pools
The short walk to the Blue Pools is a popular hike through beech forest. With clear, crystal blue pools it does tend to get a bit busy in the high season, so winter isn’t a bad time to visit. It’s also a great spot to practice skipping stones, or to add to the mini cairns alongside the river.
If you want to turn this into a longer walk, continue further on the Blue Young Link Track or the Blue Valley Track – but note that sandflies can be a nuisance if you stand around for too long.
Beech forests
The Haast Pass area may be one of your first real encounters with New Zealand rainforest. From around Makarora onwards, the mountain valleys are wetter and often dominated by beech forests. The Blue Pools and Haast Pass Lookout are good short walks that will introduce you to the beech forests, which are full of ferns, lichens and epiphytes. You will probably see piwakawaka (fantails) as well.
There are more substantial hikes than these in the Haast Pass region, but if you’re just going for a day trip, these two are perfect for a quick exploration.
Fairy and Thunder Creek Falls
There are two substantial waterfalls a minute or so off Haast Highway. The first is Fairy Falls, a pretty waterfall fringed by rainforest, which is between Haast Pass and the Gates of Haast. From here you can climb the Brewster Track to reach the top of tree line and see the great mountain vistas (the entrance is just to the north of the falls, but can be tricky to spot amidst the trees). It’s a very solid 90 to 120 minutes up the Brewster Track to the top and includes a stream crossing, so it isn’t the quickest of detours.
The second easy access waterfall is Thunder Creek Falls, which is not far beyond the Gates of Haast. The falls are almost 100 metres high – and spectacular. Special thanks to @ourgiftoflove‘s Gary Hawkins and Yafei Zhu, authors of A Life Redesigned, for the photos!
Jackson Bay Road
Once you reach the coast, you can stop at Haast Beach. From there it’s only another ten minutes on the incredibly scenic Jackson Bay Road, which follows the coastline, to the Okuru River mouth and the Hapuka Estuary.
Okuru River and Hapuka Estuary
In calm conditions with late afternoon light, Okuru River and Hapuka Estuary is an incredibly photogenic place. There’s a short walk around the lagoon where you may spot rare native birds like the ruru (morepork).
Jackson Bay at sunset
West Coast beaches are at their best during the sunset, and Jackson Bay is no exception. There’s only one place that you can drive to in New Zealand further south than Jackson Bay, and that’s Milford Sound.
Want more South Island trip ideas?
Check out our recent posts about Dunedin, Stewart Island, The Catlins, Central Otago and Wanaka!