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Published: February 2nd 2013
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Hi everyone, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
We arrived into Wanaka on New Years Eve and we could feel a buzz in the town straight away. Down at the lake front the shops and bars were full and we could see the lads at work setting up the stage for the street party that was being held that evening. After driving around for awhile we eventually found our holiday park which was a little out of the town and to get into it we had to drive about 3k up an unsealed road which was a complete nightmare in the van. Even driving at like 5mph the whole van was shaking violently and the dust was covering the van!!
We settled into the holiday park, cooked some dinner and then got ready to head out for the night. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. It was freezing cold and lashing rain. Pretty much like a New Years Eve at home lol!
We headed into town and had a look around a few bars we were not surprised to find the best atmosphere was in an Irish Bar, haha they had a young guy playing guitar and he was
excellent had the whole crowd singing along and dancing. We stayed there until 11.45pm then we ran out and braved the cold and rain to head down to the main stage on the lake front. There were so many people out in the rain dancing and listening to the band playing. Then the countdown began and we rang in 2013 with a beautiful fireworks display which went really well even with the bad weather!! We were absolutely drenched but we headed back to the warmth of the Irish bar and sang the night away until everyone was kicked out at 2am.....not like home at all!! There were police everywhere all night but there was still a lot of kids roaming around drinking and causing mischief!! We had a brilliant night though, defo a New Year we will never forget!!
The next day Ian was a little delicate haha and the rain was still pouring so we chilled out in the van and skyped the parents and John. In the afternoon we headed into town and got some lunch and some shopping done but it was miserable out so that evening we chilled out in the van with microwave popcorn
and a movie 😊
The following day we braved the weather, got all rapped up and headed to do some sightseeing. We visited the Transport and Toy Museum and we also visited a Micro Brewery and took a tour which Ian really enjoyed. He got to try lots of strange beers with ingredients such as nettles and cherries which Ian surprisingly liked. Then we had another relaxing evening before our drive to Fox Glacier.
The next morning we headed on the road to Fox but we were beginning to realise the extent of the damage the heavy rain had caused. A bridge on the road north of Franz Joesf had been washed away and so we knew we would have to drive all the way back the way we came to Christchurch to make our journey to the north island!! On the way to Fox we stopped off in a tiny town called Haast for some lunch. Apparently it is famous for its white bait patties. But when we saw what they were (a mass of tiny whole fish in some pastry)we settled for a good aul toasted sandwich instead haha. Once we got to Fox we were
told that due to the bad weather the walks to the glacier view points were off limits as they were too dangerous and the car park that has a good view of the glacier had been washed away!! So we only stopped here a night and booked a trip for the next day on Franz josep called the Ice Explorer!
We are very excited to do this trip tomorrow!!!
Hope your all well,
Chat soon Ian & Laura xxx
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