Scenic Drive across Haast Pass from Fox Glacier to Wanaka

16 March 2025

This is the day that we would drive from Fox Glacier to Wanaka. The 262 km journey should take about 3.5 hours without any stops but there are many attractions and sights to see along the way so it could take much longer. I had originally planned to do the following activities along the way:

• Do a short walk at Monro Beach where we may have a chance to spot penguins on the beach.
• Enjoy the views of the ocean at Knights Points Lookout and maybe spot some dolphins in the sea.
• Take a short walk at Ship Creek to feed some sandflies.
• View the waterfall at Thunder Creek Falls.
• View Fantail Falls.
• Stop at the Lake Wanaka Lookout for photos.
• Stop at the Lake Hawea Lookout for photos.
• Stop at the Lake Hawea Dam Lookout for photos.

With the activities during the journey, we would arrive at Wanaka in the evening. We had planned to hike up Roy’s Peak for sunrise the next day, departing early at 4 AM on Monday.

We had to ditch our plan due to rain forecasted at Wanaka on the day we were supposed to do the hike.

Rain forecasted for Monday, the day we planned to do the hike up Roy’s Peak for sunrise.

We decided to do a direct drive to Wanaka, timing to arrive at noon so that we could do the hike up to Roy’s Peak in the afternoon while the weather is still good. This meant that we only had time for brief stops at a FEW really nice places.

We left Rainforest Motel in Fox Glacier at first light. It was a good thing I had chosen to make full payment at check-in, so we could just leave the keys in the room upon check-out. We were probably the first car that departed the motel on this day.

Departing Rainforest Motel at 7.50 AM.

Fox Glacier was like a ghost town early in the morning. Ours was the only car on the road.

We took the Coastal Highway 6 southwards. We passed through several one-lane bridges, very common on this stretch of the highway.

Bridge over Fox River. One of the many one-lane bridges along Highway 6.

Another one lane bridge over Cook River.

Karangarua Bridge.

I love driving in the morning. There were lesser cars on the road and the morning light made the scenery more beautiful. We had to look out for cyclists though. We passed by a few groups of them.

Followed behind this group of cyclists slowly across one of the narrow bridges.

Driving through a tunnel of trees.

View of Mahitahi River and the Southern Alps.

Beautiful landscape as viewed from the car.

It started raining as we drove through the coastal area.  We passed by Knights Point Lookout and Ship Creek but did not make any stop. We probably did not missed much since the weather was not good.

We had brief views of a rainbow as we approached Haast.

A bit of the rainbow as seen from the car due to the light rain.

After crossing the long one-lane bridge over the Haast River, we made a stop at the Haast Visitor Center. This place has excellent toilet facilities and information about what to do and see around Haast. Haast is also the place to top up petrol, if needed, before attempting to drive across the Haast Pass.

Haast Visitor Center.

The 140 km stretch of road between Haast and Wanaka is known as the Haast Pass Highway. The road winds among steep mountains cloaked in lush rainforest and cross tumbling rivers. Clouds were seen overhead. Fortunately, there was no rain on this dangerous, narrow and curvy road.

On the Haast Pass Highway (also Highway 6) towards Thunder Creek Falls.

We made a brief stop to view the Thunder Creek Falls and also to get a break from the driving. There are several waterfalls along the Haast Pass highway and this falls is probably the most impressive and accessible.

Thunder Creek Falls.

A few minutes away from Thunder Creeks Falls is the metal bridge over the Haast River, called the Gate of Haast. This is a good landmark on this drive but parking near the bridge is limited and also on the opposite side of the road.

Gate of Haast.

Haast Bridge. This bridge is an impressive crisscross of steel girders – beautifully designed and very sturdy.

We passed by several attractions such as Fantail Falls, Haast Pass Lookout (requires a hike) and Blue Pools (temporarily closed) but we chose not to stop.

The beautiful blue waters of Lake Wanaka soon came into view on our right side.

Lake Wanaka with deep blue water and mountains in the back

For the next 15 minutes or so, we were treated to beautiful views of the lake on our right as we travelled on the winding road that hugged the side of the mountain on our left.

Highway 6 along Lake Wanaka.

There are a couple of lookout points along this stretch of Highway 6 but they were all located on the right side of the road. It was dangerous to access these lookout points so we just enjoyed the views from the car.

After passing through a stretch of land known as the Neck, we stopped at a lookout point (Google Maps location here) on our left. This lookout point provides nice views of Lake Hawea and the surrounding mountains.

Snapping photos at the Lake Hawea Lookout point, just after the Neck.

This lookout point provides good view of the curvy road going down the side of Lake Hawea.

Driving down the highway with Lake Hawea on our left.

Car overtaking a slow vehicle on this dangerous stretch of road.

The drive to Wanaka was so scenic that we took our time to appreciate the scenery. This is not so for the locals who are probably sick of the views by now.

There is another lookout point further down the highway, near the middle of Lake Hawea (Google Map Location here). The second Lake Hawea Lookout Point had just a small area by the road for several cars to park. We managed to squeeze our car into the space.

A path leads to the viewpoint just above the car park where we enjoyed views of the blue waters of Lake Hawea. If we had come on a rainy or cloudy day, the views may not be as good.

Lake Hawea is so blue!

Views from the Lake Hawea Lookout.

This was the last stop we made on our way to Wanaka. We were glad to note that the weather was perfect for our planned hike in the afternoon.

It was slightly past noon when we arrived at the town centre of Wanaka. During the drive, we did research and chose to eat at Gusto168, a Chinese restaurant. 

Hot and spicy Szechuan soup.

Foo Yong Omelette with whitebait.

Stir fried beef with ginger and onions.

Mapo Tofu dish.

The food at Gusto was quite good but I felt that the prices were a bit too high. We were charged NZD 135 for the above food, 3 steamed rice and 3 cans of Coke.

By the time we finished lunch, it was 1 PM. Everything has gone according to our new plan. We even had time to check into our accommodation in Wanaka before starting our challenging hike up Roy’s Peak.

Next post: Overcoming the challenge we set ourselves by hiking up Roy’s Peak.

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Hokitika to FranzJosef and Fox Glacier road trip

15 March 2025

From Hokitika, we continued our road trip down the west coast to New Zealand’s glacier country. The Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, some of New Zealand's largest and most-visited, descend down from the Southern Alps and flow almost to sea level.

Well, almost.

With global warming, both glaciers had retreated much higher compared to the yester-years and I did not have high expectations on seeing much of the glaciers.

My plan for the day was simple. Drive to the town of Franz Josef Glacier to do a short hike to Peter’s Pool before continuing to Fox Glacier where we would stay for one night. We should have time to do a hike at Lake Matheson before dinner.

The drive to Franz Josef Glacier from Hokitika took about 2 hours. En-route, we made a brief stop at Lake Lanthe Wharf (Google Maps location here) for a coffee break. This is a good place to stop for a short break from driving as there are views of the lake, picnic benches and toilet facilities.

Enjoying a cup of hot coffee that we brought along on Lake Lanthe Wharf.

We arrived at the Franz Josef Glacier Car Park (Google Maps location here) as planned. This is the car park nearest to Peter’s Pool.

From the car park, we spotted the Franz Josef Glacier. I had not expected to see any glacier due to the weather conditions but we did! Even then, it was just a tiny bit of the glacier.

View of the Franz Josef Glacier from the car park.

A sign at the car park indicated that viewing conditions was GOOD.

We decided to do the impromptu hike to the end of the Forest Walk to get a better view of the Franz Josef Glacier. The signage indicated the hike would take about 30 minutes return or 15 minutes one way.

Signage pointing to the Glacier View at the end of the Forest Walk. 

It was an easy walk to view the glacier. Along the way, we had a sneak preview of the glacier. Despite the clouds hanging low over the mountain range, there was a break in the clouds, just enough for us to see the glacier with a bit of blue sky above.

View of the glacier along the short easy hike. 

Well maintained track with plenty of greenery and ferns.

Slight gradual uphill to the view point.

At the end of the trail, we arrived at an observation deck with views of the glacier valley and the glacier in the far distance. There is even a small waterfall on the cliff to our right.

At the observation deck at the end of the Glacier View track. This is the closest (3 km) we could get to view the Franz Josef Glacier.

Zoomed in photo of the Franz Josef Glacier.

The old walking track on the glacier valley is no longer accessible.

I remembered that back in 2004, my wife and I with our 3 kids, did a hike on the glacier valley. We were able to walk right up to the terminal face of the glacier (photo below). We could even touch the glacier and took photos right next to it. Now the track had been closed off for safety reasons.

Photo of our family’s hike to the glacier in 2004. The glacier was longer and reached right up to glacier valley.

 Memory of our hike (in light rain) to the glacier back in 2004.

It is sad to see that the glacier has receded so far up the mountain due to global warming. Franz Josef Glacier used to fill the whole valley in 1908. According to the sign, glaciers can shift up to 5 meters a day as it melts and retreats.

Nowadays, the only way to really see and touch the glacier is by helicopter to reach the top section of the glacier. This was what we did in 2004 as well.

The kids throwing snow on top of the glacier.

It was a once in a lifetime experience. So, once is enough. 

Peter’s Pool

After seeing the glacier, we took a walk to Peter's Pool as per our original plan. The track to Peter’s Pool starts from the same car park and should take only 25 minutes.

The total distance is 1.1 km, return via same track.

Sign explaining how the kettle lake was formed.

Peter’s Pool is a small kettle lake, which was formed by ice melting amongst glacial moraine about 200 years ago.  The glacier is long gone but the reflective pool remains.

We could enjoy the reflective views of the glacier valley and mountains but where is the glacier?

After our little hikes at Franz Josef Glacier, we drove to Fox Glacier, another town named after the glacier next to it. The journey took about 40 minutes, up and down switchbacks across the mountain.

We checked into the Rainforest Motel, our accommodation for the night. I thought the motel looked familiar. It was later than I discovered that we stayed at this same motel back in 2004.

View from our room at Rainforest Motel.

Fox Glacier is a smaller town compared to Franz Josef. I choose to stay here instead of the Franz Josef because of Lake Matheson, located within a few minutes drive from the motel. We had time to freshen up before taking the short drive to Lake Matheson.

Next post: Lake Matheson and what we did at the town of Fox Glacier.

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