New Zealand

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It was a beautiful sunny morning so we headed down to the side of Lake Wanaka for a cooked breakfast. The lake was so clear that I had to dip my toes in. It was freezing but I had expected nothing less when surrounded by snow capped mountains. The spectacular view around the lake didn’t feel real, it was more like a postcard. I couldn’t take it in as it was just too beautiful which was frustrating as I wanted it to hit me in the way that the mountain at Bora did.

We had a quick walk around Wanaka, including a stop to check out real estate prices (Matt picked a high spec five bedroomed, three bathroomed, 4 berth garage house with lake and mountain views that he really wanted for about £275 thousand!), then it was back on the road to Queenstown.

It was bright sunshine when we arrived in late afternoon, although the air still had a slight chill to it. Queenstown is set on the banks of Lake Wakatipu and it has stunning mountain scenery all around.

We picked a central motor park. It was massive and impersonal but at least it meant we were only a couple of minutes walk away from everything.

After spending an hour or two reading through a massive stack of leaflets we decided to do a horse trek the following day that took in some of the Lord of the Rings sights. This time Matt was up for giving it a go with me.

We decided to go out to dinner and make the most of being in a big town for a change. After reading lots of menus we decided on a steak house and enjoyed a delicious meals of steak and salad and wine for a bargain £35.

Afterwards we headed back to our van to skype home and make the use of finally getting fast internet access.

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