Wanaka

November 15 – 17th Wanaka

Wanaka situated on Lake Wanaka, one of 2 lakes with both glacier & freshwater feeding (the other its close neighbour Lake Hawea) is a quaint little town with awe inspiring views of the Southern Alps. After arriving in Wanaka late in the afternoon, it was just a brief exploration before joining my Danish girls for a cheap hostel cookin before hitting the Cinema Paradiso to see the movie ‘Red’. The Cinema is a small family run business serving fresh cookies & homemade ice cream & the seats are couches, lazy boys, loveseats & even an old convertible. Pretty sure it was a room full of all the tourists in town for the night!

Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea, Cardrona Valley & the Upper Clutha River & Basin were all clearly visible from the Summit of Mt Iron (my short walk this morning outside of town). The tussock & beech forest are such a sharp contrasting green to the snowcapped mountains in the distance & the blues of the Lakes. Feels like you can reach out & touch it all. The panoramic views were amazing, noting the fields, paddocks, wind shear tree lines & the sound of sheep in the distance. A great little hike.

I capped my afternoon off with a rather fascinating trip to the Puzzling World where I got lost, I mean completed, the maze, explored the Illusion Rooms & played with sooooo many different, quirky puzzles. Totally a place I could spend days in…. & it also felt really good to use my brain. Traveling zaps a little of the intelligence out of oneself at times haha.

Then to build up my energy I joined my Danish girls, Simone, Julie& Camilla for a game of soccer in the most scenic of spots………… with the most gorgeous pink skies for sunset