Thursday 10th January, 2019.
Today we had our alarms set for 330AM ready for a hike up Roy’s peak. Hoping to 1/ catch a sunrise and 2/ miss the crowds of people expected to be doing the same.
We woke up at 330AM to the sound of that dreaded alarm and heavy rain on top of the roof, we decided to give it a miss and re plan it for another morning.
Doing that meant we could re visit the diamond lake we missed yesterday because of our extended nap, oops!
The diamond lake was just that, crystal clear water buried in the trees and nestled next to the Rocky Mountains. This 3 hour hike was pretty tough for someone that hasn’t really taken care of their fitness for the last 6 months, but the views were worth it.
From Wanaka it was a short but beautiful drive to the famed blue pools along the Haast pass. Imagine the Snowdonian lanes on steroids and for 60 miles, this is what we drove through.
The blue pools were reach by two lovely and cool suspension bridges over the Haast which was A) fucking freezing and ? flowing with force. Again, more crystal clear water on a good day, unfortunately we had a slight green tinge due to the recent rainfall.
Further down the Haast pass was morning waterfalls and short scenic walks through the trails. We decided to stop at Thundercreek falls and wow, what a beautiful waterfall. We have seen waterfalls in Bali, Norway, Iceland but this is probably the best of the bunch.
Locals aptly call it 100ft falls as the water tumbles down into the Haast river below.
From there we headed back to Wanaka and back to camp to eat, rest and prepare for our rescheduled hike up to Roy’s peak.
Rain or shine we will be hiking it!