Our second day in Wanaka was spent in the Haast Valley.
This is the most southerly of the Alpine passes, and the normal route between the Glaciers and Queenstown. When I was planning the trip I looked for stops between places, there were more stops between Wanaka and Haast than any other leg. In some ways it was what we wanted the trip to be, to have time to see the bits inbetween the major sites.
The Department of Conservation produce a guide which was a great starting point. https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/otago/walks-along-haast-highway-brochure.pdf
Even though our plans changed we did not want to miss out on the pass. It proved to be a great choice - We spent all day there with a fair few stops: Haast Pass Look Out walk, Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Falls, Fantail Falls. Photostop at Blue Pools (the walk unfortunately closed), several viewpoints on the Haast River, Lake Wanka and Lake Hawae. For all the stops we made, there were others we had to miss out.
There was so much in the valley not least how the vegetation changed from the dryer east side, through the valley to the temperate rainforest in the west.
Haast Valley Look Out - A 45 minute or so walk through ancient woodland to get views over the valley.