Today we visited Mt Aspiring National Park, which is the third largest of New Zealand's Parks. We stopped at the Park Visitor's Center and picked up the brochure, "Walks along the Haast Highway," which was very helpful as we drove the 140km section of Hwy 6.

We drove beyond Lakes Wanaka and Hawea, through rainforests and along rivers. Our first nature walk was into the Makarora Bush, a primeval forest of silver beech and podocarp; it included a pitsaw display that illustrated a pioneering timber milling technique.

We stopped at the Cameron Flat picnic area for lunch. Next we went to the Blue Pools which included crossing two swinging bridges.

Then we walked to three waterfalls: Fantail Falls, Thunder Creek Falls (which is sometimes called the 90 Ft falls), and the Roaring Billy Falls; this trail was our favorite because the trail was surrounded by huge trees and tree ferns. I'm so glad we spent the day exploring this beautiful National Park.