After leaving doubtfull sound we headed up towards Lake Wanaka with some beautifull scenery. It was very humid here and eventually the rain started that had been forecast. We left wanaka in pouring rain and it stayed like that the whole of the west coats drive. First through the Haast Pass which was amazing thick rainforest clad mountains with hundreds of BIG waterfalls pouring even onto the roads.
Moving on the same day we came to the Glaciers, firstly Fox and then Franz Joseph. They are the only glaciers in the world that come out 1. very close to the sea and 2. come out through rain forest. The weather here was so bad though we did'nt see too much. We ended up driving to a town called Hokitika where we stayed the night, and is incidentally the Jade or Greenstone capital of NZ. So, Kate went shopping!!
The next day brough more rain in the morning as we headed up the coats to westport stopping off at what they call panake rocks. 30 million year old rock formations in layers with impressive blow holes etc. Finally the sun came out as we drove inland again and north to the Nelson region and the Abel Tasman National Park.
