Wanaka - wanna what???

Those who know Michael, know that Wanaka is spoken about with reverence every second April.  You see, Wanaka is home to one of the southern hemisphere's greatest air shows.

And so off to Wanaka we go today. We slept in courtesy of a very dark room with the most amazingly comfortable king bed - yes, almost needed that map again! Finally we get away a bit before 9:30 for the 50 odd minute driv
e back over the Range.  Of course, the morning light brings a very different landscape to what we saw last night and as we pull in to the lookout, half of all the tourists in NZ seem to be there as well.  
Michael manages to get this great panorama photo with his phone.  Everyone is excited to see the snow which
hardly ever falls in summer.
We see a number of cyclists at this lookout.  I ask one if they ride it often and he tells me it is a first for him, from Australia.  I thought that it was only mad dogs and Englishmen - guess not!  At this point, they are probably about 20% of the way up!  Crazy people!!

And so to Wanaka.  As I really have no interest in the flying machines, I opt to be the 

warbirds widow and sit out a couple of hours in the Coffee Shop, enjoying a Chunky Beef and Blue Cheese Pie, a cuppachino, and two pots of peppermint tea.  And to while away the time, have a good read of the tourist literature on the areas to the south.  Hmm, a change in plans perhaps- we might not even get to the north of the South Island this trip - so much to see, so little time to see it all! 

"Flying a good airplane doesn't require near as much attention as a motor car." - Charles Lindbergh

The 'Warbirds and Wheels Museum' at Wanaka is a must whether you're smitten with or have an acquired cynicism towards modern transport. This museum is not just about aviation, it is a testament to the evolution of the modern motor car as well.


It is not a large museum but the exhibits which are displayed are of a restored quality. I was pleased with what I saw as there were two of my favourite aircraft on display, the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a (WW1) and the superlative Hawker Hurricane (WW2).I drooled with awe at the other exhibits as well. As with the automobiles, I was thrilled to find a 1924 Rickenbacker Roadster and a 1938 Packard convertible. 

I returned to the cafeteria and found my Maria at a table reading a tourist guide.
"You've finished?" she asked (Stupid question!)
"Not yet." I replied 

So I sourced some lunch ate it and returned to the inner sanctum. Well, after having my fill of exhibits (sort of), I met Maria at the car to head off for Veronica Lake....hang about...Lake Wanaka!

When Michael is done, we drive a few hundred metres back down the road to the Toy and Transport Museum where I deposit Michael before I head off to the Wanaka Lavender Farm.  After a wander in the garden and a browse in the shop, I settle down for another pot of peppermint tea and a lavender biscuit, while reading Lavender and Old Lace that was serendipitously found on the table I chose to sit at! 

 

"I'm not a builder of buildings. I'm a builder of collections." - Leonard Lauder 
Now, this museum is in complete contrast to the former. It is not pristine or clinical, it is a mass collection dedicated to childhood, aviation, motor transport, fire fighting and military. Encompassing four hangers and each structure dedicated to a particular genre.

The toy exhibits are masterful, and displaying a Meccano section for which to die for. You can keep Lego. Transport is represented by a myriad of automobiles,trucks of all forms. Aircraft types exhibited from a 1934 Astor through to a 1969 MiG 10 - modern by no means, but a couple of rare types. Military exhibits in the form of a 1916 WW1 French Renault tank through to Mark V British Centurion tank. It isn't the most clinical of museums, however, there is a definite passion. The only other museum I can make a comparison with is the Auto and Technik Museum Sinsheim in southern Germany.


With Michael full of his childhood reminiscing, we head back into Wanaka to take in the views of the lake and have a wander through the town. Money here. Lots of it.  The properties are pristine with beautifully manicured lawns and gardens. The lake is stunning on this later summer afternoon and we decide on the spur of the moment to take a tour on it on the MV Dual Image of the Lakeland Adventures Wanaka.  All six of us - hang on here come another two people running up the beach.

Our captain Adam and the aide Rakesh are informative and friendly and with such a small group we get very personalised attention. The trip is a little choppy as the wind is starting to pick up, but nothing that even I can't handle.  Remind me to tell you the story of how Ruby Island got its name when we get home.  Suffice to say, it involves prohibition, sly grog on a bar on an island and a dancing girl in a town where the local policeman didn't have a boat!



 If you are looking for accommodation in Arrowtown, or somewhere within striking distance of Wanaka and Queenstown, lookup Scooter and Grant on airbnb.

Of glaciers and waterfalls and lakes and big open skies

Looking at the skies here, you would never know that NZ had had not one but two tropical cyclones in the space of a month.

And even though it is the height of summer, there have been fresh snow falls - creating lots of headaches for park ranges who are busy closing some of the walking tracks in anticipation of the localised flooding to start in the next day or two as that snow melts into the local streams.

We slept in until just after 8 this morning and once we heard Joan and Rodney up and about, rose and showered.  Joan was making a coffee and offered us one as well.  Nice, strong coffee, and hot!

There was a young Chinese couple staying in Joan's other room.  Saw nothing of them last night and this morning they surfaced just in time to leave.  Joan tried to engage them, to no avail.  The young lass was more talkative than her male partner, and we at least learned that they were from Shanghai!  Funnily enough, we ran into them a couple of times later in the day and the journey as well.  

Down in Franz Joseph looking in to flights over the glaciers, we sat in for breakfast to find them tucking in to thick steaks and salads. I know, I know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day - but that takes some beating!  Turns out that there is only one more flight today - this afternoon, and as we have a 5+ hour drive through to Arrowtown, 

the salesman's suggestion was that we (read Michael) takes the flight from the eastern side as we travel north later next week.

At the moment, NZ is filled with Chinese as travelling is seen as an auspicious way to start the Chinese New Year. And boy does their driving take the cake. Like many Japanese, they appear to be nervous of driving over 60 kph and when they come to a bend, any bend, the brakes are on and we crawl around at about 20 kph!  Makes for frustrated NZers and Aussies on the road.

And the other thing that the west side of the South Island is known for are its single lane bridges - actually gives northern Scotland a really good run for their money! I'll put you out of your misery and only include this one photo - although I am sure we have photos of 40 or more of them!

Michael is fascinated with glaciers and is keen to see both Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.  So off to them we set.  He can get not quite within spitting distance at Franz Josef and is alarmed at how far it has retreated.  All the literature from the local Environment Department tells us that the viewing vantages are now all many hundreds of metres from the face of the Glacier. 
At the Fox Glacier a little further south, the path is closed even further back so he opts to climb to the top of the Sentinel Rock to get a good vantage point. Again it is shared with lots of Chinese - many whom are travelling with young children - predominantly girls.

Once he has had his fill of slowly creeping dirty ice, we continue our journey south.
The impact of not one but two cyclones is apparent in some places, with these buildings flattened.  Not sure whether Fehi or Gita did the damage - guess it really doesn't matter does it? 

The climate on the western side is much wetter and I guess it must also be a little warmer - there are myriads of fens and palms right along this stretch and heaps of waterfalls along the way and I think we call in at most to have a look.

There are some pretty amazing names given to these waterfalls too - Bride's Veil, Ninety Foot Falls, Roaring Billy Falls among others.  Along with Cyclone Gita came some rain (and snow) and so the many of the waterfalls are again at full flow. The fall into shallow and deep pools which topple into streams that eventually find their way to the sea.  

Rivers in this part of New Zealand meander across wide pebble filled beds - found only in a few parts of the world.  In the spring when the winter snows are melting, these becoming rushing torrents of water, covering the breadth of the beds, but for now, they quietly burble along, lazily washing over the stones, without the energy to carry them to the shorelines.

Before too long, we have come away from the mountain areas and are now travelling along the coast.  The skies are mainly clear with just a few picturesque cotton wool clouds for effect.  The waters are crystal clear and the most amazing aqua colour.  The sun is high, and gee, everything is right in my world right now!

We stop at a couple of the beaches - too cold for swimming but truly a welcome sight.  And the smell of the salt water is at once uplifting.

And while Paris and Venice and Sibiu might have their bridges of locks, the west coast of New Zealand have lots of cairns with quartz stones carved with lovers names and dates.  They dot the beaches and I wonder what some future archaeologist might make of them when in millenia to come they are washed up across a wide expanse! 

This is a very stormy part of the coast, open to prevailing onshore winds and the trees lean towards the inland, having been pushed and pushed by the wind.


Anyone who has a link to New Zealand has told us that we need to try the whitebait fritters.  Today, we found the first evidence of these little gems.  Caught in nets at the mouths of rivers in a short ten-week season, these little delicacies fetch $95 per kilo!  Mind you, there is a 25% tax on the commercial catch as well.
We pulled in to the Curly Tree Cafe where we do as instructed and honk twice and are soon joined by the gorgeous smiling Rachel who promptly pulls the lid off a smoking BBQ grill when we are ready to have our Whitebait PATTIES (not fritters, OK) which are simply a heap of whitebait mixed with a little egg to keep them together - think omelette like.
At $10 each, these small pancake-sized patties are not cheap, but served on warmed, buttered white bread, they are heavenly.  Locals eat them with mint sauce. We just used a small squeeze of lemon.
Wash them down with Bundaberg Brewed Drinks - another link to home. Around now Glenn arrives home and I cheekily comment that his cause is a lost one when he pushes a lawnmower over the stones on the drive.  He comes over for a chat and we soon learn more than we ever knew about whitebaiting.  Up for a chat any time Brian and Sally!!

By now it is well after 4 pm and we still have a few hours drive to reach Arrowtown. 
Rachel and Glenn had told us that if we go over the Crown Range Road we can save half an hour on the journey around the base of the range.  Might be so, but there are twists and turns all the way up the range that mean our average speed is between 40 and 50 kph.  Still, the scenery is amazing.  BIG open skies.  Rounded hills that lock in to each other. Land slips (including some very recent ones). Snow covered peaks at the back,and as we top the Coronet Peak range, the sun is setting over Lake Hayes - what a majestic end to the day.



We pull in to Scooter's Place found on AirBnB after 8 pm and she tells us that we should still be able to get a meal in town.  Off we head and call in to the only place we still find cooking - Postmasters where we feast on local seafood.
Scooters Place is stunning and very new, having only been open for 2 months.  Sadly, we only got this booking because of a cancellation and they cannot accommodate us for longer. :(