West Coast Trip: Makaroa

Our first stop during West Coast was at Makaroa's Wilderness Lodge about 45 minutes outside of Lake Wanaka on Haast Pass. The views are quite stunning and there are lots of outdoor activities for those who are keen. During our stay there we did a long hike up the rainforest to do our first "plotting" for Forest Ecology. The hike was exciting, with a bit of a climb, and some interesting species of plants were found such as the"lancewood." Andy Wells, professor of Forest Ecology, can definitely climb up those hills as easily as he can name almost any tree in the NZ forest! The students were quite impressed with his abililty to answer almost any question. On our way down from the hike we stopped to look at the "blue pools" which have an uncanny blue hue to their water. It's hard to find water so pure looking.