Tao 10: South Island 3 – Wanaka

When I think back on our New Zealand trip so far, It seemed everywhere we go we can see snow-capped mountains on the horizon;  lush green pastures with fluffy sheep or grazing cattle were an constant sight; clear blue lakes and turquoise shorelines were never far away.  It almost seemed unfair that a country can have so much natural beauty within its borders.  Of course low population density plays an important role.  The New York Metro area alone has 4 times the population of the entire country of New Zealand. Still, the idea of conservation is clearly on every New Zealander’s mind.  That is clear from the absence of bottles, cigarette butts and plastic bags on any of the lake shores, beaches and trails we’ve been to.  Kudos to the Kiwis for that.

On the road to Wanaka approaching Haast Pass

On our way to Wanaka we passed a sign for a salmon farm .  Both of us were hungry, so we turned around and dropped in for a visit. What a smart decision that is.  Inside, this awaited us:

Yummy! But wait, there's more

That's a BIG cup of coffee.

Whitebait sandwich

Whitebait is a local delicacy.  It’s a tiny fish about an inch long and is supposedly one of the best tasting fish out there.  Cooked together with eggs, it’s kinda hard to tell what the fish tasted like though.  The sandwich is delicious none the less.

Smoked salmon sandwich

The black dog seems disinterested

And this is where all the fresh salmon came from.  They have 4 pools like this, each holding fishes of different sizes.

Hundreds of salmons swimming in circles

There’s a multitude of lookout points along the stretch of highway.  The hotel manager at Fox Glacier gave us some tips on where to stop, and we were following those tips to the letter.

Ocean view at a lookout

Smoky mountains at Gates to Haas

Blue pool. Never assume no one's looking.

Outside of the information center at the town of Makarora west. We were very close to Lake Wanaka.

Shores of Lake Wanaka

Another shot of Lake Wanaka

Approaching Lake Hawea

Me in front of Lake Hawea

Snow capped mountains, reflections in the lake, and beautiful clouds, it's a classic postcard shot.

Same view from a different angle

This road is probably the most beautiful section of highway we’d driven here in NZ.  The two mountain lakes in a sunny and windless day offered up unparalleled views.

Wanaka is a modern-looking town on the shores of Lake Wanaka.  It’s small, but very charming.  We planed to spend just one night here, but after a short stroll in town, decided to stay one more night. One of the main attractions is a curious collection of puzzles, including a maze.

Tracy seized the moment to show off some of her superhuman powers, other than eating and sleeping.

Herculean strength - grass under that tower is a dead giveaway

Balance that rivals the late King of Pop

We spent half an hour in this maze.  The goal is to reach four towers at the four corners, then get back to the entrance.  I wish we could just constantly turn in the same direction and solve this without thinking.  Still, we beat the posted 45-60 minutes time.  Hooray!!  It was quite an exercise as we had to climb stairs to cross bridges many many times.

A local bar with a curious name

Wanaka has more than a dozen hiking trails around it.  The most famous of which is the Rob Roy Trail.  The trail is 50km from Wanaka, only 16km are paved road.  There are pastures on either side of the gravel road.  Although we cannot drive fast here, the view makes it enjoyable.

6km from the trail start, we were stopped by a rushing creek right in the middle of the road.  It’s not very deep, but definitely deeper than our Camry’s clearance.  After weighing our options, Tracy and I decide to walk the remaining 6km to the trail start.  This would add 2-2.5 hours round trip, but we had plenty of time.

We ended up not having to do this.  Just minutes into our walk Tracy stuck her thumb out and flagged down a passing SUV.  An Isreali couple and their 2 year old daughter Ella gave us a ride to the car park.  Turned out there are 8 more stream crossings before we reach the car park.  Our Camry would never have made it.

The climb was at times strenuous.  The view at the top was nothing to write home about.  The Rob Roy Glacier that the track is named after had diminished so much over the years that there’s not much left to see.  We did get some good exercises which is part of what we are after.

On our way up

At the top

River close to the foot of the mountain

Trail ends in farm land

The gravel road after the track offers great views

We tried a Japanese and a Thai restaurant while in Wanaka.  Both are quite good.  Tracy’s job was to document the food and she did the job well.  Some say passion breeds perfection.  See her post for some pictures.

View from our motel room

After spending two nights in Wanaka, we left the town for Queenstown on Friday (10/21), but not before we try out our marksmanship at a local shooting range.  The place is called Have-A-Shot.  Indeed you can shoot many things here, including rifles, bows, golf, mini golf, and shotgun.  Tracy and I tried out the .22 rifle.  We each shot 25 rounds, in 5, 10 and 10.  My last 10 looked like this:

Not bad huh?  Target’s only 20m away though.

I also tried clay target shooting with a shotgun.  I’m glad Tracy opted out of this one.  The recoil of the gun is hard.  I got only one in the first 8 shots or so, but eventually got the hang of it and ended up with 6 out of 20.  Not too bad for someone who never fired a shotgun before.  Pardon my self congratulation.