Day 8 - Wanaka
We we woke up and the fog had lifted a little and it was time to visit my tree again. I went down and there was the usual 15-20 people taking selfies and images of the tree with at least 6 nations supported.
After a short visit to the tree we ventured off to the Warbirds & Wheels museum at Wanaka airport. This is a great way to spend a few hours and the cafe has an open fire which is very welcoming as the temperature outside was about - 2. The museum has a great selection of old cars and aircraft and has some wonderful information about the war effort by the NZ nation and the sacrifices that were made. There is a few Studebaker's there as well and the story goes that when they were build the average car price was under a $1000 and the Studibaker's were $17000,00 and were also selling during the stock market crash. Must have been nice to have that sort of scratch back in those days. For the millennial's that are reading, scratch means money :)
If you are going into the hanger where the displays are, make sure you rug if going in winter as it's very cold in there.
After a few hours and cappuccino's were on our way back to a walking track that goes up to Iron Hill which is just across the road from Puzzling World which is also a great attraction to visit if you are in the area. My wife and Son ventured off on the 90 minuet return circuit as my back was giving me grief by this time of the day and gave me time to copy images from my SD cards to the hard drive.
After they returned we again went back into Wanaka and yes, back to the tree!!
After a quick visit to the supermarket, we drove the 10 minuets to our DOC camp at Albert Town which cost $10 per adult and $3,50 for kids per night. I has a toilet block and there is plenty of room to park up and stay away from others. I think the temp gout down to -5 that night but the gas heater in the motor home managed to keep the cold at bay till we turned the lights out.
Day 9 - Wanaka to Mt Cook turnoff
Today we headed towards one of most loved areas of NZ, Mt Cook and the Tasman Glacier. The drive took us over the Lindis Pass at which point we were very excited to see some snow as it is usually there at this time of the year. As we approached the summit of the pass we quickly realised that in fact there was no snow there at all and had not been for some time. We drove down of the Lindis Pass after a walk around the summit and pulled off to the side of the road just before we got to Omarama and prepared lunch while our Son made a rock pile like a lot of other's have done in this area.
We filled up with fuel at Omarama and headed for our free camp which is at the end of Lake Pukaki and just north of the turn off to Mt Cook. In this same area there is an information centre/shop and big car park that has toilets and is a good vantage point to see Mt Cook. On this particular day it was as clear as a bell and we were hoping for the same weather tomorrow.
This is the sunset we had from our free camp looking towards Mt Cook.
Day 10 - Mt Cook - Lake Tekapo.
We woke up to a cracker of a day and I thought I would get the Mavic Air out to get some drone footage of the sunrise. Typical DJI wanted to upgrade the firmware as I was in a new country and once I did that, it told it was too cold to fly and to charge the battery and pre warm it !!!! So no drone footage for me.
We headed into Mt Cook and I wanted to get to the Tasman Glacier as we had not been there for about 10 years. It's an eight kilometre road out before you get to the Hermitage Village and there is a very skinny one way bridge to go over on the way. Once you get to the car park it is about a 15 minuet, very steep, walk up to the glacier lookout and I lost count how many time I had to stop. Note to self, get in shape and stop eating so much hot crusty bread while your on holidays... After what seemed an eternity, to me, your reach the summit and are presented with some nice views of the glacier which has reseeded immensely since our last visit.
The road to Mt Cook on a very clear day!!
The Tasman Glacier in the distance.
A small Ice Berg
We had a good walk around the area and I was had it by the time we got back to the motor home and my back was very sore.
We headed for the Hermitage to get a cuppa and some lunch and it was nice to sit in a warm environment for a while, although it was very warm in there.
After a little walk around the complex we headed back out the 55 klm road to the high way to make our way to Lake Tekapo which one of our favourite stops in NZ. We got into the motor home park fairly late and I never got time to get a sunset shot.
Day 11 - Lake Tekapo
Today we decided to go up to the top of Mt John which has an observatory or 4 on it and and a cafe of course. The road is a private road and there is a charge of $8.00 to go on it and it is a little windy which made my wife a little nervous :) After about 15 min you are at the top and presented with a 360 degree view around the area and it is quite spectacular.
We of course had lunch up there and spent a few hours walking around and taking some long exposure images which I and still to edit. I ca recommend it to anyone and you will enjoy your visit.
When we got down from the clouds, we went to my favourite little church, The Church of the Good Sheppard on the lake. It is a very popular place for couples to marry and hosts over 120 weddings per year. But what a place to tie the knot.
More to come.