February 5, 2026
It rained most of the night, and we woke up to drizzle and overcast skies. We had about a 4-hour drive from Haast through Mount Aspiring National Park, to Queenstown, and then to Glenorchy. We had already driven the road from Haast to Queenstown twice before on our previous trips, so we focused on places we had not stopped before.
In the early morning we stopped briefly at Haast Beach to say goodbye to the West Coast. The weather conditions were not good, so we didn't stay long.
Inside Mount Aspiring National Park we stopped at the Pleasant Flat Recreation Area. We walked a short nature trail through the pretty forest. The weather was clearing slowly as we moved further away from the West Coast.
The road climbed up over Haast Pass, and the weather was now partly cloudy. Just outside of Mount Aspiring National Park we stopped at the Makarora Country Cafe and tried the venison meat pies for lunch. They were very good and another favorite.
Continuing on, we stopped at overlooks of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. The small strip of land between the two lakes was called The Neck. We drove a side road to view a small waterfall at Neck Creek.
Next we stopped at the Roaring Meg Lookout which had a lovely view of the Kawarau River and its rapids. The water was a beautiful turquoise color. It reminded me a bit of Huka Falls on the North Island.
Nearby was the Kawarau Gorge suspension bridge. This was the birthplace of bungee jumping according to what I read in Google Maps. We walked across the bridge and watched several bungee jumpers.
It took us almost an hour to drive though Queenstown. The traffic was jammed for a few miles just outside of the town near Frankton. We were glad to get out of there. We tried to find a gas station that was convenient to get to, and there was only one: a Mobile station that refused to take Heinrich's credit card using tap to pay. This was the first gas station where we had encountered any trouble. We gave up and decided to drive the rest of the way to Glenorchy since it had a gas station.
The drive to Glenorchy was beautiful. The weather was now mostly sunny. The road followed the shore of Lake Wakatipu, and we had lovely views of the Remarkables mountains. We stopped at several lookouts: Seven Mile Point Track, Wilson Bay and Bennetts Bluff were very nice.
In the little town of Glenorchy we checked into our room (Glenorchy Alpine Suite Aspen #3) and then found the gas station to fill up. I checked the weather forecast and saw that it was supposed to be mostly cloudy the following morning. Since it was only early evening and we still had a few hours before sunset, we decided to take the drive north of Glenorchy. The last time we were there in 2019 we were not able to see any of the surrounding mountains due to rain and fog. Today the mountain scenery was spectacular.
We drove the one-way bridge across the Dart River and then to the Lake Sylvan trail head. This area had been used for several Lord of the Rings filming sites: Isengard was one of the locations along the river.
We did not have time to hike to Lake Sylvan, but I took lots of photos as we drove back through the valley. We then drove to Diamond Lake for a brief stop.
Back at the hotel room we had eggs and potatoes for dinner. Afterwards I walked down to the wharf and took lots of photos of the surrounding mountains that were brilliant gold in the setting sun.
Graham alluded there would be others joining him on this trek and I immediately thought you and HK would be joining him. I look forward to reading your and his recaps of your adventure.