We left Haast early Wednesday, January 7th and headed east for one of the most beautiful drives we’ve been on. I think the most amazing part was the diversity of the nature–we started in the lush rain forest, passed by several turquoise lakes, came across the arid hills of Otago and ended with a visit to Clay Cliffs, a dramatic geological formation. Brace yourself for many photos!

We drove about an hour to our first stop, Blue Pools in Mount Aspiring National Park, which is very aptly named. It was an easy and beautiful walk from the parking lot to the pools where we admired the unreal colour and watched some very impressive rock-skippers.

As we continued on Highway 6, passing Lake Wānaka on our way to Lake Hāwea where we stopped for lunch. Beautiful views!

From there we entered a whole new world. The vegetation was so different! We came across a patch of multi-coloured lupins so had to do a quick photoshoot.

And then our last stop before we got to Twizel where we stayed for a few days was the Clay Cliffs. We almost skipped it because it was 5pm by the time we arrived and had already been a long day, but we are all so glad we rallied and went. It was a pretty short hike and the cliffs are stunning. They just jut out of the land like a huge cathedral in the middle of the land. There are some cliffs that you can see from the trail, but the best part was walking through a narrow into chute into an open area where the cliffs surround you by 360 degrees. Very cool!