Blogs from Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 5

From Abel Tasman we headed over to the west coast of the South Island where we spent two nights. Sadly, our time here doesn't warrant a blog post of its own. We'd planned to visit the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers but the weather was horrendous. Rain had set in and had stuck around for weeks, meaning the trails to the glacier front had been flooded. Instead we amused ourselves by drinking wine and chatting to other people in our campsite. We cut our losses after two soggy nights and headed to Wanaka. Most of the day was taken up by the long, spectacular drive through the mountainous Haast Pass highway but by 3pm we arrived in Wanaka, on the lake of the same name. We parked up on the lake front, visited the tourist information ... read more

The ankle twinges twice as the wanderer steps out of bed this morning so a rest day is in order. So the day is spent watching the first day of the test match I would have been at had I stuck to Plan A. A good day for NZ up in Auckland but I think I'd rather be watching it remotely from the shores of this stunning lake, soaring mountains creating a ridgelined horizon. If the ankle recovers swiftly, then Mt Armstrong might be on the cards for tomorrow.... read more

The abundance of food and lack of exercise has started to get to me now, and this morning I take one of the mountain bikes which are at the house along the track which runs around the lake. This started off as a nice easy route, but soon turns into a track featuring sharp narrow downhill sections with boulders and tight corners and similarly steep uphill’s. It’s been a while since I have been mountain biking which shows by how tiring it is….slightly worrying! However the views are more than worth the sweat and panting it takes to reach the end. The morning mist is starting to burn off the lake, revealing the crystal blue waters beneath which are framed by the surrounding dramatic hillsides and snow-capped mountains. I am back by lunch and after a ... read more

As the DOC had predicted, I woke up on Sunday morning to torrential rain! It continued all day, which is much needed for the country and nice, as it’s always good to have a rain on a rest days! Both Sunday and Monday I had a very productive time sorting out my photos, reading, wondering round Wanaka (window shopping) in all their nice shops and spending a large amount of time on the internet researching next steps, trips and uploading my blog for you all. Ana and I have taken the time over the few days, and the fact we have a beautiful kitchen at our disposal currently to whip up some beautiful dishes, including venison and lots of roasted veg – it was amazing! We also made the remainder of the veg into a soup ... read more

This morning we headed off around 9am after breakfast to conquer the mighty cascade saddle route! To start with it’s a fairly easy upward climb for the first 2hours, in the tree line – and we were starting to wonder what everybody was making a fuss about, it being such a hard climb! As soon as we are above the tree line however it turns into a serious climb – with longer sections of rock to scramble up and very steep sections, so yes, it is harder than the walk yesterday. At 1pm we reach the top and absorb the stunning scenery, at 1840m we are surrounded by mountains covered in snow, and we settle town and eat our lunch of very yummy veg and rice with tuna and extra hot Nandos sauce (SPICEY!) for some ... read more