Haas pass one way bridge

Oct24 Wednesday Wanaka to Franz Josef 173 miles 6.5 hr. Lake wanaka is NZ’s 4th latgest lakes 180 sq. km . We wake up to sunshine but doesn’t take long and it is raining. We travel through the rainforest of the Southern Alps and Haas Pass. Many twist and turns, ups and downs ,plus 29 one way bridges. The rain and the wind are not compatible with hiking so I missed 5 good hikes at about 30 min. each . I Sure was disappointed. It was even too cloudy to take pictures. There were many fast flowing rivers and streams and waterfalls. It would have been beautiful in the sunshine. One good thing there was hardly any traffic. We get a quick view of the Tasmen sea and the waves are crashing onto the beach. We stop for lunch at the Salmon Creek Café. They raise salmon in pens. It poured rain. We try to stop at the Fox glacier but it is raining so hard and the wind is pushing the rain sideways. We were told to watch for the mischievous Keas (birds) but they were smart enough to hide in the trees. One of our people got his side door removed by the wind as it pushed him against a rock. They taped it up with black garbage bags and are delivering them a new one tomorrow. That sure would have been scary. We stay at the Rainforest Park. Beautiful setting but very cramped.