Lovely Wanaka

People following this blog are probably sick of me saying things are lovely, beautiful etc. but it is really how we feel.   We have been blest with almost perfect weather.  I even had to get shorts out one day – had packed them away thinking I wouldn’t need them again until The Cook Islands.

Wanaka really is wonderful – it reminds us of the Okanagan.  After Diane and Paul left we went for a drive in the Otago wine region.  It apparently is recognized as one of the best Pinot Noir regions in the world.  They were excellent.  This region was near Tarras where Shrek was from.  A teacher at the Tarras Elementary School wrote the original story and all profits from the Shrek franchise, go to the school so it is the best funded school in New Zealand.  This is also where Icebreaker Clothing began so they contract for all of the Merino wool in the area.  Apparently it is finer than other Merino wool.  We did have a bit of rain in the morning but nothing significant.

Future Icebreaker Clothing!

 Yesterday was really lovely and warm.  We went to Puzzling World, a place of illusions and then we drove out to Mount Aspiring (about 50 km from Wakana) – at least we went as far as Lois would let me go!  I had checked at the ranger office and they said the road was passable all the way.  We saw great scenery and even 10 or 12 hang gliders drifting on the air currents.

Hang Gliders

Where Lois Rained on My Parade!!

Mount Aspiring

 At dinner time we went to Café Paradiso, a movie theater where you can eat before, during or after the movie.  It has various seating – old sofas and love seats, a car, airplane seats etc.  We had read about it in Lonely Planet.  We saw The Decendants and really enjoyed it.

A Pleasant Surprise in Wanaka

We had another great day to complete our drive down the west coast.  Besides the beautiful scenery we met a couple of very interesting characters.  Steve, a jade carver and Nolly ,a dutch woman who had lived her for about 40 years and had a shop right from the turn of the 19^th to 20^th century.  Both were real characters and we felt we had met some true New Zealander spirits.

We arrived at our B and B around 3:00 and discovered a couple from England, we had met in Fiji were here as well. Diane and Paul were on their honeymoon (2nd marriages) and we had given them our itinerary. They had thought they might connect with us in Nelson but when we checked in there they had left us a note saying they had moved on because of the weather. We didn’t expect to see them but they checked in here for a night to surprise us. We went out for dinner and it was nice to catch up with them.

Seeing Mount Cook

Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand at 12,376 ft.  We had been told the best time to see it was at dusk or at dawn.

When we were finishing dinner in Fox Glacier, Lois noticed that the high clouds were lifting from the mountains so we decided to drive the 10 km out to the lookout.  We had a great view of it as the sunset.

Mount Cook at Dusk

The forecast was for the next morning to be clear so I got up at 6:30 AM in the dark and did the 40 minute hike out to Reflection Island on Lake Matheson.  This is the place where any pictures we have seen of Mount Cook have been taken.  It was still almost dark and I did wonder at time why I was doing it.  I should have taken a flash light – I could make out the trail but I had to be about 6 inches from the signs to read them.  It was well worth the hike – the view was spectacular as the sun rose.  2 Asian men were there before me and had their tripods and huge cameras set up.  There was still room for me and I spent a half hour there enjoying the tranquility and beautiful scene.  On the way back I met at least 100 people headed to the viewpoint so I was glad I went early.

Mount Cook at Dawn

Down the West Coast

The 2 day trip down the west coast to the Glacier area has been wonderful.  We drove through the Buller Gorge, a beautiful river valley between 2 mountain ranges.  We were then out at the Tasman Sea coast and saw spectacular seascapes –like we have seen in Northern California but much more extensive.  We stopped at the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.  It is best at high tide and we got there at exactly high tide. 

Pancake Rocks

Blowhole

Knight's Point

Our first night was in Hokitika, the B and B was like a beautiful mountain lodge in BC above a river valley.  We wished we had had more than one night at it.  Hokitika is the Greenstone (jade) Centre for New Zealand so there were lots of interesting things to look at.  One store was more like an information center about jade and the woman was very informative.

The second night was at Fox Glacier.  The glaciers are really the only reason for the towns of Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier to exist so there isn’t a lot to do there besides seeing the glaciers.  I did have 2 great hikes – one to the face of the Fox Glacier and the other in search of Mount Cook.  I did them on my own as Lois couldn’t have managed either.

The Face of Fox Glacier

In and Around Nelson

We have very much enjoyed our time in Nelson, it is a very pleasant place to have a few days.  It is a fishing port located on Tasman Bay.  The downtown (2 blocks from our B and B) is very compact and there are lots of trees. 

Our first day, Saturday, was market day. Being regulars at the St. Jacob’s Market we were curious to see what it was like.  There were fruit and vegetable vendors but also all kinds of arts and craft vendors – all from the Nelson area selling high quality products.  Vendors are not allowed to sell anything imported.  It was a great place to do souvenir shopping!

At the Nelson Market

We bought a loaf of bread, some unbelievably good blue chess and a couple of cold drinks. We came back to the B and B and had them for lunch in the garden.  In the afternoon we went for a drive around the country side – this is a significant wine region of New Zealand.

Having a Picnic at the B and B

 Today we woke up to what has proved to be our first full day of rain.  It has been like a Victoria rainy day.  You don’t really get wet if you know what I mean but it wasn’t suitable for doing much outdoors.  Instead we went to WOW – The World of Wearable Art.  There is international competition every year and some of the designs were amazing.  There is also an antique car museum at the site so that was interesting as well.

We went to a winery for lunch and then to a small fishing port recommended by our host.  It was nice but probably would have been much nicer on a fine day.