wicked wanaka

28 feb 2010

gorgeous weather again the past few days. after franz josef, moved inland and away from coastal vagaries of weather.

central nz is awesome! the drive inland was retarded.

we're in the most beautiful town on the planet. called wanaka (WAH-nu-kuh, but e and i kept sayin wa-NAH-ka, like the rest of the canadians there. oops.) in the centre of the south island. the drive here 2 days ago was by far the most stunningly beautiful scenery i've ever seen. anywhere. there's these breathtaking gold and grey mountains around two huge aqua blue lakes (l wanaka and l hawea).

the first night, we met 3 friendly kiwis at the local pub. one works for dept of conservation and is a birder! invited me to come by the office and told us of good hikes we should do.

yest e and i hiked up mount roy just outside town. 1580 m elevation. straight up the whole time. stunning stunning stunning views from the top. indescribable. hiked with the german monika from new york who's a retired pediatric cardiologist. hitchhiked out and back with 2 very sweet brothers from manchester. then went swimming in the lake with them and out for a few drinks.

leaving here tomo for queenstown, the banff of nz. supposed to rain all week though, so may not stay there long. but we get to see shane finally! woot woot!

first photo is lake hawea as seen when driving through 'the neck.'

second is view of lake wanaka from top of mount roy.

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