Makarora, NZ
Saturday, March 7
Today started in New Zealand’s Glacier Country — Fox Glacier to be exact. This particular campground was brimming with kids & Aden and Tory begged to play outdoors as soon as we woke up that morning. It actually worked out well because Andi woke up with a migraine, so I packed a tote of breakfast foods and took the kids to the community kitchen to eat. Afterward, they played at the campground playground for the rest of the morning.
By Noon, Andi was feeling better. We hung around the campground long enough to have a call with our financial advisor regarding the recent worldwide coronavirus outbreak. Noon “our time” in New Zealand is around 5:00pm the previous day in Wisconsin, so that timeframe works well to chat with people at home. After the call, the four of us headed south toward Haast.
After getting such a late start, I wasn’t sure how far we’d drive today. Our next destination is the city of Wanaka, but Wanaka is a 3 1/2 hours drive from Fox Glacier and I’d heard the scenery along the way is breathtaking. Andi and I wanted to allow enough time to sightsee in a few spots, if desired. We considered having lunch in Fox Glacier before we left town, but the restaurant options were less than appealing. Instead, we opted to eat lunch in our RV again, though I have to admit that eating an easy “snack lunch” of deli meat, cheese, crackers, raw veggies, olives and french bread everyday is getting old.
Roads in New Zealand’s South Island are different than anywhere else we’ve traveled. Highways are curvy and narrow, especially when driving an oversized vehicle, and they’re surrounding by gorgeous views of mountains, rivers and ocean. For that reason, Andi and I like to take our time in navigating somewhere new.
About an hour outside of Fox Glacier, we stopped at Bruce Bay to take in the view. Andi also wanted an espresso, and there was a cute, little food truck parked alongside the oceanside pull-out. The kids begged for ice cream, so I caved and let them order two scoops of real fruit ice cream — mango for Aden and strawberry for Tory. Beside the highway, there was a big pile of white rocks that other tourists had written their names on. I remembered I had a Sharpie marker in our school bag, so we ran back to the RV so Tory and Aden could add their names to a rock in the pile.
I wish we would have known this little Bruce Bay food truck was on the way when we were in Fox Glacier. The food truck/coffee cart actually had some good food options like pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs and whitebait burgers. (Better than anything we saw in Fox Glacier!)
Back on the road, we passed gorgeous views at Gates of Haast and several other off-shoots for hiking trails. Andi and I agreed to do a walk at the Blue Pools because it was the shortest and easiest of the tracks along the way.
The “blue pools,” as they’re called, flow from the Makarora River and are hidden amongst an old growth forest. There’s a nice, flat walking trail that leads to a swinging bridge overlook. Swinging bridges are common on New Zealand tracks (aka: hiking trails), but this was the first time we saw this sign. A bit of an aggressive warning, don’t you think?!
As we crossed the bridge, another group of people were coming toward us from the other side. I saw the last person quietly counting heads under this breath. Ha! I think he was a little nervous.
I still can’t get over the crystal-clear blue turquoise waters of New Zealand lakes and rivers. They’re beautiful! We could see right down to the bottom of this one.
It was close to 7:00pm by the time we finished our walk at the Blue Pools, so Andi and I decided to camp at Boundary Creek Campground along Highway 6. The campground sits on the northeast boarder of Lake Wanana. This campground had a “state park” vibe, but unlike state parks in the United States that have designated camping spots, New Zealand Department of Conservation sites allow campers to park anywhere that suits them. We found a semi-flat spot along a treeline and decided to call it good enough for the night.
The Nebraska family we met in Fox Glacier was also camped at Boundary Creek, so after dinner we walked down to the water and hung out with them for a bit. Lake Wanaka looked more like an ocean as big waves crashed along the beach. The little boys (Aden, Archer and Teddy) kept themselves busy throwing rocks into the water while Tory build creations with driftwood and boulders on the beach. Mike, Katie, Andi and I stood nearby and talked until the sun went down on the day.
Tomorrow, we’ll continue on to Wanaka — a town we’ve heard great things about. Excited to check it out for ourselves!
