Blogs from Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
May 19th 2012
Monday 30th April We arrive in the town of Wanaka which lies right on, surprisingly, Lake Wanaka. First impressions were, "wish we could spend more time here" as we came in from the south past the airfield and it's aviation museums and old vintage cars. Saw a Canberra bomber perched up on display outside the museum and it brought back memories of the first aircraft I was to get to know in the RAAF way back in the early 60's. Further in towards town you go past the "crazy' Puzzling World with it's crooked houses of all shapes and colours. Combine this with the usual stunning avenues of autumn trees in vivid reds and golden hues and set on a beautiful lake with snow capped mountains reflecting against the boats.....nice. We make our way out thru ... read more
May 16th 2012
I'm going to New Zealand almost exactly four years since the last time I went. Only a week this time, but I will be back. My dates in New Zealand will be May 28th through June 3rd. What will I do there for a week? Not sure yet, but the movie theater in Wanaka is definitely on the list!... read more
Still feeling like an extra in Lord of the Rings - Wanaka
Published: April 17th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Wanaka
April 12th 2012
12th April ’12 Te Anau to Wanaka Still feeling like an extra in Lord of the Rings and definitely a Hobbit, small, round and always wanting to eat we left Te Anau and followed the road back to the Queenstown area in order to pick up the Crown Range Road. This road leads over a vast mountain range, winding, switching back and twisting and turning its way up and over the top – where we stopped for sarnies and the views, then down into the Wanaka region. This is the gateway to the Mt. Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is a lovely tiny town nestling on the shore of Lake Wanaka with towering mountains in every direction! We were staying at The Shed hostel right in the centre of the town and when we arrived a huge ... read more
April 3rd 2012
Mon 2 Apr --------- Off to Franz Josef today and the glacier. A few beautiful sights along the way, lakes, waterfalls etc. It's a beautiful day and quite warm for a town at the bottom of a glacier. So here we are with jumpers and fleeces at the ready. We left our fleeces in the tour office as it really was very warm. We had booked a half day trip to go up to and on the glacier, having been assured that the walk was easy to moderate. OK, so we set off about 1pm having been issued with rain jacket, boots, socks and crampons. Feeling somewhat anxious as all the rest of the party were much younger and looked a lot fitter than us. Bus to car park took about 10 mins then a walk ... read more
February 28th 2012
We are now broadcasting to you from Queenstown, our ultimate southerly destination in the South Island leg of our tour. The camper van is holding up, even though we have added over 2250 Kilometers to its clock. Mind you, there were over 400,000 there to start with! So let's recap the journey of the last couple of days. We left the glacier region in yet another downpour of rain, so we hoped our journey south would bring us to better weather, and indeed it did. By the time we reached Wanaka, having driven through the spectacular Haast pass, the sun was out and it was really warm. Quite a change. The approach to Wanaka is amazing. We had to keep stopping to take photos of Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. We would stop to take one, and ... read more
January 31st 2012
Dagen blev indledt med en 8 kilometers løbetur i de mest fantastiske omgivelser, man kan forestille sig. Hver gang (dvs. to) vi mødte en bil, vinkede de lokale kiwier til os, som om vi var lokale. De er fantastisk imødekommende hernede. Både Morten og jeg var overbeviste om, at vi var højt oppe ved Lake Tekapo, og at det var grunden til, at vi ikke rigtige have de gode ”bener”. Dette blev desværre afkræftet af familiens kloge (eller noget…) overhoveder. Nå…, så var det bare dårlig kondi. Vi tog herefter stående morgenmad på terrassen, hvor Morten blev angrebet (ja, ANGREBET) af en solsort, som havde set sig lun på hans håndmad. Vi røg ind i huset i bedste flyverskjul-stil, og Pappa måtte så bruge al sin tillærte B.S. Christiansen-skræmmestil til at få den væk. Den var ... read more
January 3rd 2012
Today we decided to take the plunge and do a skydive! We're in Wanaka, and when we woke up this morning the sky was blue and the sun was out. We'd briefly discussed doing a skydive after watching Helen's videos of hers when she was in NZ, but Flora had been ominously quiet about them recently. However, after planning our route for the next few days it became clear that it was now or never, so we made the phone call and at 2pm found ourselves at the airport. Next door to the airport is a transport and toy museum - perfect for me to distract myself with! The most random selection of classic cars and toys all crammed into a series of warehouses. So after you've perused the vintage selection of star wars toys, you ... read more
Merry Christmas from Wanaka New Zealand
Published: December 20th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Wanaka
December 20th 2011
Hi all - Sorry have been bad at keeping this up. been staying at a place with no internet for a while. Left Christchurch for Tekapo last week where we stayed one night. They have an amazing observatory on the top of a mountain Mount John. Freya Johan and i were booked to go on an observatory tour at 11.30 that night but sadly it was cancelled due to rain on the mountain... Children very disapointed so may try again on our way back up. Have been staying in Alexandra for a few days in Otago a famous fruit growing area. My cousin Juilet and her children and met us with Jan (my cousin Davids wife) with her children. Its been warm and we had a great family bike ride a couple of days ago. 20k ... read more
Wanaka, Dunedin and everywhere in between
Published: December 11th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Wanaka
December 11th 2011
We have spent the past few days on a road trip with Monica visiting both Wanaka and Dunedin plus everywhere in between. Setting off last Wednesday we headed towards Wanaka leaving a wet Christchurch and driving into much nicer weather, sunny blue skies and not a drop of rain to be seen. The highways here are single lane which given the limited amount of traffic is just fine and serviced by lovely independent cafes along the route which we loved stopping at for a snack and a cuppa. On route to Wanaka we stopped at both Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki to enjoy the stunning views of crystal clear waters and the Southern Alps in the distance, simply spectacular. Lake Pukaki boasts a turquoise colour which is something you have to see to believe and I ... read more
November 22nd 2011
De eerste stad na Queenstown is Wanaka. Het stadje ligt aan de voet van Lake Wanaka , een reusachtig meer! We dachten om hier een zeilbootje te huren voor een dag of een kayaktocht te doen. Na ons te informeren besloten we het niet te doen, wegens te duur! Europa is echt goedkoop om te kayakken of te zeilen! We wilden dit eigenlijk al doen bij Milford Sound , maar daar was het enkel met dag trektochten in groep. De prijzen daar variëren tussen de 200 en 350 dollar per persoon per dag! Ook in Wanaka is het duur! Hier kost het 60 $ per persoon per uur! Hopelijk zal het Noordereiland beter zijn , en goedkoper! Ook zonder bootje is het leuk, we lopen gewoon de kusten af...op zoek naar schatten uit de zee! Op ... read more
