New Zealand Road Trip – New Zealand Beaches: Makarora to Fox Glacier
New Zealand . Outdoor Recreation . Tent Camping . Travel . Worldwide Travel
Recommendations for Your South Island New Zealand Itinerary: New Zealand Road Trip – New Zealand Beaches
New Zealand Road Trip – New Zealand Beaches: Bruce Bay, Haast, and More. For this part of the trip, we recommend taking a full day to drive the stretch from Makarora to Fox Glacier, with plenty of time to stop at the blue pools and the beaches North of Haast. If you have a little more time, break this up into two sections, camping near Bruce Bay or Haast.
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New Zealand Road Trip – New Zealand Beaches: Haast to Fox Glacier
Driving in New Zealand is unlike driving in many other countries; unlike the U.S., there are very few multi-lane freeways or broad, straight highways linking vast Western states hundreds of miles wide. And unlike major cities like Mexico City or London or Sydney, there aren’t too many places to get snarled in traffic jams and all the other frustrations of dense urban driving, outside of the four main population centers. Most New Zealand highways wind and bend and curve around dramatic landscapes, replete with sheep and rolling green hills and coastline. The road from Makarora to Haast is no exception, with dense native bush lining the twisting, narrow road that dramatically arrives at the West Coast just past the village of Haast.
Haast: A UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Haast River winds down from the coastal range in a series of wide, meandering streams that zigzag around a wide bed of slate and greenstone–New Zealand’s jade–before flowing into the Tasman Sea. The highway emerges from dense bush and follows the river to the sea, splitting North and South to follow the coastline. We stopped in Haast for a much-needed flat white and a playground (the coffee for me and Michelle; the playground for Nyah and Renn). Wind howled along the riverbed, kicking up a fine dust that billowed into cloud-like formations along the ground. The sunshine and heat made the wind bearable.
The small café across from the playground and park on Haast’s main strip had a corner table with beautifully cut and polished greenstone for sale. I found sliced rounds of brilliant green stone for NZ$10, pendants and jewelry for NZ$15, and chunky blocks of partially-polished stone for NZ$20. Unfortunately, the local vendor only accepted cash, and I had not yet withdrawn any, having just arrived the day before. The café staff told me about the village’s only ATM/EFT-POS machine, down around the corner at the corner petrol station. I left the girls playing and drove to the gas station, only to find that the only cash machine within 50 miles was out of service. I would have to wait on my purchase of polished jade. (Sadly, the price of jade further North in Hokitika and other seaside towns was exponentially more than what I saw in Haast).
Bruce Bay, New Zealand: White Rocks and Green Stone
New Zealand Road Trip – New Zealand Beaches: Bruce Bay. Refreshed and relaxed, we continued on the highway North until we spotted a rocky beach along the Tasman Sea. Smooth round rocks lined the shore, glinting in the bright afternoon sun. Coming from the cold Northern Hemisphere in early spring, the summer warmth and bright seaside sunshine felt particularly good as we kicked off our shoes and dug our toes into the warm sand. After a few sprints up and down the grassy dunes, the girls promptly began combing the shore for the best polished stones and shells. They found perfectly round white stones and grey, tossed and polished in the never-ending cycle of sand and waves.
We were tempted to set up camp right there on the beach; if we hadn’t already planned to spend time at Fox Glacier further North, we probably would have set up the tent somewhere along the beach at one of the campgrounds near Bruce Bay or any number of other beach-access spots along that stretch of coastline.
I couldn’t believe how much greenstone lay on the shore. Plentiful chunks of the rough stone in all shapes and sizes littered the beach. Nyah had read about how to spot the best pieces of greenstone and which grade of sandpaper would give the stone the very best finish.
Haast to Fox Glacier: An Iconic Stretch of the New Zealand Road Trip
New Zealand Road Trip – New Zealand Beaches: Driving to Fox Glacier. We drove the last 45 minutes into Fox Glacier, past Mt. Cook, the highest point in New Zealand. This stretch of highway moves from broad coastal vistas to dense forested hills and winding, curving road from one small town to the next. The glimpses of Westland Tai Poutini National Park start here and continue well beyond Fox Glacier and the township of Franz Josef. By the time we reached Fox Glacier, we had decided to tent camp the second night, and came across one of the best discoveries of the trip: New Zealand’s Top 10 Holiday Parks. The Parks include brand new properties like the beachfront Ross Beach location and renovated properties like the Kaikorai Valley location in Dunedin. Our first stay at a Top 10 was perfect: we pitched our lightweight MSR backpacking tent at the edge of a grassy field, just behind a small outcropping of trees that looks out across the open valley floor toward Mt. Cook and the Westland Tai Poutini National Park.
Once we set up the tent and unpacked our sleeping bags and pads, we zipped everything up and headed into town for a much-needed bite to eat. Between the long journey getting to New Zealand and all our fun in the sun, Nyah and Renn were totally wiped out, ready to either (1) eat their napkins, (2) scream uncontrollably, (3) pass out in the restaurant, face down in a plate of uneaten food, or (4) all of the above. Thankfully, we found some snacks to stave off the hunger, and Café Neve on Main Street took good care of our nutritional needs.
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