More NZ beauty

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- FOOD: A scrummy Indian Birthday treat meal

- AREA: Gorgeous Wanaka with it's gorgeous lake and gorgeous mountains. Puzzling World to do your head in. Difficult drive to Queenstown. Ghost town of Te Anau.

- PEOPLE: Snow boarders everywhere. Miserable staff in Te Anau (a first for NZ)

- WEATHER: Sun for us in Wanaka, rain for us in Queenstown.


Aug 15th: Lou stayed in a very nice ski lodge type hostel called the Purple Cow - it has a good reputation of being one of the best places to stay in and rightfully so. She had a room in an apartment with it's own kitchen, bathroom and lounge area. Her flat mates were 5 Japanese snow board queens who had been there about 2 months!

We drove Lou up the mountain to the ski resort and took our time stopping off lots on the way back down to take in the magnificent scenery and snow covered mountains.
The afternoon was spent chilling by the lake and spending time in this small town that has a cool feel to it. I like this mountain/lake combo lots and could spend much more time here.

I'd promised Lou and Laura to a nice meal for their Birthday treats and after lots of faffing we found the only open restaurant. It was an Indian and the food was divine! I haven't had my fave Rogan Josh for a while so it was a good treat.


Aug 16th: We didn't get time to go the Harris Mountains sadly but did see Mount Aspiring from a distance (great name). While Laura went horseriding, Lou and I went to Puzzling World which is a centre with holographic photos, a hall with huge faces of famous people who turn their heads to follow you around the room, a tilted room where water runs uphill (so baffling to understand even with my mathematical mind!) and a room with special effects such as those they used in Lord of the Rings where I looked tiny and Lou huge.

We then drove to Queenstown over the mountains on yet another road that proved a challenge to drive on. The road was narrow, windy and steep but such gorgeous views.
It was raining heavily in Queenstown and unless you have the money for outdoor adventure activities (it's the capital for them) or lots of alcohol (party capital also), there isn't much point staying here so after a quick drink we left for Te Anau. I think we're possibly the only people who only visited Queenstown for only an hour! We did get to see the Remarkables mountain (another great name) just about through the rain though...

In Te Anau we had an experience that must be rare in NZ - very unfriendly staff. After scouring this ghost town we found a hotel restaurant and asked if they were still serving food. After lots of long faces and sulks they said they were. Laura then asked what was in the seafood chowder to get the helpful reply "Umm, seafood". She asked how big the entree was compared to the main to be told "Umm, smaller than the main".
I had lamb shank at last which was good but the smacked arse faces of the staff made a bad atmosphere. When they started cleaning, putting chairs on tables and putting out the breakfast things for the next morning, we decided to leave before they turned the lights out on us! The manageress was eyeing us up and down and we think she was the reason all the staff were miserable as she seemed like the type of person you would not want to work for.

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