Day 9 - Wanaka, Ripon Valley & Wanaka Lake Outlet Track Walk

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Wednesday 27th November, 2013. Wanaka, Ripon Valley & Wanaka Lake Outlet Track Walk

At the Youth Hostel in Wanaka we had a double room in a chalet with one other double bedroom, sharing kitchenette and bathroom and lounge facilities. The night before last were sharing with a couple of honeymooners from Shanghi. She spoke good English but he had very little. Last night was a New Zealaner calle Anton but we didn't see much of him. We had breakfast of Wheetbix, toast tea/coffee and juice an then we had to pack up our stuff as tonight we would be moving rooms as ours was booked up. This was a RESULT though as we had been upgraded to a posher room with private facilities and TV. However we couldn't check in to the new room until 2 pm so we packed up all our stuff and stuck in the camper.

We set off for the 45 minute walk to the Ripon Valley Vineyard. We crossed main road and found the start of the Wanaka Community Millennium Project. This was a really clever idea where a tile was laid along the lakefront to commemorate every one of the 2000 years of our history since the birth of Jesus Christ. We had seen some of the tiles yesterday, but hadn't really appreciated what they were. We took a photo of the first tile and then M stood on the tile representing the year of Christ's crucifixion for another photo.

The tramp to the vineyard was very pleasant along the opposite side of the lake to the walk yesterday. We arrived at the track that turned off uphill to the vineyard cellar but we were over an hour early for the wine tasting. We decided to continue along the track for another half hour or so rather than sit and wait. We came across a site called the Protected Kanuka Woodland which you could access by means of a style. This was an area of 2.4 hectares which was protected by a covenant to preserve its open space for all to enjoy (well done Jill and John Blennerhassett!). The Kanuka or Tea Tree growing in this area is a species that has yet to be formerly described or named (M loves all this!).

Its small stature and very small leaves, flowers and seed capsules are its distinguishing features. The bark too, is different as it rolls off the trunk like wood shavings. We could see this very clearly. Apparently these features are adaptations to the dry, cold environment of the Clutha Basin. It is a very dry place to grow as, due to the prevailing westerly winds, most of the rain falls over the Southern Alps to the west. As a result the Clutha River Basin and Central Otago are very dry. As a result a unique biodiversity has evolved and the trees have adapted to the semi arid conditions. We wondered why we had found Olive Trees and Palm Trees here.

After walking around the woodland we strolled back to the vineyard and climbed the hill following the signs to the Cellar Door. We arrived 5 minutes early. However we were invited in immediately. We got to taste 6 different wines. The girl in charge was from Germany but had no trace of an accent. We purchased 3 bottles of wine - at great expense.

The German girl recommended that we went for a beer tasting at the local Wanaca Craft Beer Brewery. After walking back to the youth hostel we did exactly that - but best laid plans and all that. Wednesday was brewing day so there was no tour and tasting. We satisfied ourselves by taking some pictures of the outside exhibits at the Toy and Transport museum which was next door to the brewery.

We decided that we should finish the Lake Wanaka Outlet Track walk which we had partially completed yesterday. We approached it from the opposite end, starting in Arthur's Town. We parked the car and started on the walk. This is one of the top 101 things for a Kiwi to do. It was stunning. The colour of the water, the wildflowers and wildlife -amazing.

After the walk we returned to the YH and checked in to our luxury room. We went for a beer on the lakefront (happy hour) and then to the supermarket. Dinner of chicken with mushroom sauce, more carrot cake washed down with vino. Lovely.

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