Fox Glacier to Wanaka

The small township of Fox Glacier is recognized for it's longer and wider New Zealand glacier, and for Lake Matheson with it's perfect mirror reflections of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman.  Bob and I spent the afternoon and evening of Sunday, March 19, walking around the lake and enjoying the views - though somewhat cloudy - of glacier country.

  Had it been a clear day, our view would have looked like this:

Instead, this was what we saw:

Beautiful reflections, nonetheless!

We decided to have dinner at a lovely restaurant on the lake.  The lamb was so tender and delicious!  As we enjoyed our meal on the patio, the trees before us suddenly became aflame with vibrant fall colors.  We realized that the setting sun must have played a hand in this gorgeous glow, and hurried around the building to witness another colorful sunset.

 Who could have dreamed up a more calming conclusion to our day?!

The next morning, Bob and I hiked the Fox Glacier valley trail.  It was drizzling rain and I must not have taken out my camera because I can't find any photos other than a couple of views of the glacier.  I do remember thinking it was a less scenic walk to the glacier than we had experienced the day before.

The 4 hour drive to Wanaka started out slow with construction on a one-lane bridge.  The delay gave us time to see beautiful glacier county and the rain-forest region one last time.

The west coastline of New Zealand continued to impress us as we headed further south.

We stopped at Monro Beach and took the Ship Creek Walk along the coast.  We saw Hector dolphins jumping in the waves  but were unable to capture them on film.  We quickly learned that the dreaded New Zealand sand flies are an unwelcome force to be reckoned with!  While there, I became covered in bites that itched terribly and haunted me for the remainder of our vacation!

By the time we reached the town of Haast, we were ready for lunch and found a small cafe where we enjoyed a typical fish and chips plate followed by a very sweet New Zealand favorite treat of "Call me Ginger".   

We had to laugh at some of the scenic stops along the way boasting views of "falls" that were nothing more than a creek tumbling over some rocks on it's descent down the mountain.  

About an hour before reaching Wanaka, we enjoyed a 20-minute walk to the "Blue Pools".  We were discovering so many shades of blue water throughout New Zealand.  Unlike the milky water at the Hokitika Gorge, the Blue Pools were crystal clear and equally impressive.  Several tourists enjoyed jumping off the bridge into the gorgeous refreshing cold water below.  The piles of stacked rocks surrounding the pools momentarily took me back to Korea!

The road into Wanaka winds between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea - two of New Zealands most beautiful lakes.  Here, the lake waters turn a deep indigo blue.  I was mesmerized by the beauty of the lakes and majestic mountain backdrops along our drive.

 

 

Arriving into the quaint town of Wanaka, it was easy to see why this is a favorite place to stay for many vacationers.  It just has a nice cozy uptown feel to it, with a romantic vibe for couples.  We checked in to our motel and then walked around the lake where we spotted that tiny Wanaka tree!

"That Wanaka Tree" is the most photographed tree in New Zealand (if not the world...).  People either love or hate it, but either way, it is a photo magnet!  It is just a lone willow tree growing right out of Wanaka Lake, not far from the beach.  The water level was low the day we were there.  We walked over to snap a few photos for ourselves.

We continued to walk a little further around the lake and found another interesting huge tree.  But we were hungry and found a great restaurant near the shore which served the best venison I have ever tasted.  Seriously, those young farm raised deer produce some of the most delicious tender steak I have consumed.  It was nothing like the gamey deer and elk which dad hunted down every fall in Utah.  I still crave a bite of that New Zealand venison every once in a while.

It had been a lovely day, and we went to bed anticipating another great one in Wanaka the next morning.