Wanaka

This is the town that we were in last year when the famous Wanaka Challenge was being held. We actually became one of the few people to get lost in this little town when we were deviated away from the main street to avoid the finish of the marathon. Ts event is on again in another couple of weeks so this time we can find our way around with much less difficulty.

It’s a vibrant town on the southern edge of Lake Wanaka. Our day was made very pleasant with a 26 degree day and bright sunshine. We read that it was quite cold at home with snow on the Alps, so that makes this place much more attractive.

Our day began with breakfast at a little cafe named Relishes, where we had eaten on a previous visit. From there, it was a visit to every shop in town. Somehow, Jill, Cathy and the girls actually managed to spend almost am hour in the newsagent! In the middle of this, I had to walk down to the parking area by the lake and move the car because our parking time was up.

We had more ice creams today at the Gelati shop. Audrey’s was strawberry and mine was ginger flavored. From there we split and went our separate ways. Chris, Cathy and the girls went off to visit Puzzle World which is a much more elaborate facility than the old Wanaka Maze as it was when it was first established.

Jill and I sent some time exploring. We found a road that went up the very scenic Motukituki Valley towards Mt Aspiring. It is obviously a great place for raising cattle and deer and it provided some splendid valley views. We travelled on a very rough corrugated road for about 20km, hoping to get a view of Mt Aspiring, but as the valley became more narrow, the view became more closed in. We turned around after a while and headed back to town.

20120111-205108.jpg

20120111-205139.jpg

20120111-205212.jpg

Our last activity for the day was to visit a very well presented private museum at the airport with the name ‘War Birds Over Wanaka’. (Every April, there is an air show here of the same name. The first section of the museum has a display of about seven or eight aircraft, all of which at some time saw service in the RNZAF. In the second section there are a coupe of dozen beautifully presented old cars – mostly Fords and Packards. I had expected to perhaps see more English card such as Hillmans and Morris as these were the most prevalent cars I can remember seeing in NZ on my earlier trips. Perhaps the owner of the museum has a greater leaning towards American vehicles. Over all, it was well worthy the $15 Seniors admission fee.

20120111-205802.jpg

Bruce

Bruce is a keen traveller and photographer. This web site describes his travel and family interests

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

New Zealand

It’s A Good Day In Queenstown

This is my last full day in Queenstown and it is a lovely day. I am almost recovered from my experience with Covid – just a little bit of a stuffy nose, but I feel like I am pretty much back to normal. There is little wind and the sky is blue. I caught the […]

Read More
Europe Memories New Zealand

New Zealand WW1 Centenary Trails

I’m feeling a little pleased with myself after a WW1 Centenary Project Team working for the New Zealand Government saw one of my images and asked for my permission to use it in their project materials. It is displayed on their website and on printed banners (to be placed in libraries and schools around the […]

Read More
Family New Zealand

With our Grandchildren in New Zealand

We’ve having a very good time in Wellington, New Zealand with Cathy and our two grandchildren We arrived here last Thursday and have had an active time with mild, but very windy weather. This city has really been living up to its name of being ‘Windy Wellington’. Yesterday we saw a woman literally holding on […]

Read More