Typical driving scene in New Zealand
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Oh, one incident I forgot to mention yesterday. Coming back from Milford. we stopped at a lookout for the view. Returning to the car, I noticed my wedding ring had vanished. I panicked and scanned the ground, asking other people who had also stopped there to help us look. After 5-10 minutes of fruitless searching we concluded it was gone for good. Then Michelle asked if it could have fallen off in the car. I checked and yes, there it was on the back seat - it must have been pulled off by my jumper or coat while I was rummaging back there for may camera. Phew! Much relieved we drove on to Te Anau.
Today however was the drive from Te Anau to Wanaka. We rose about 07:30 and brekkied as usual. Bags packed, we checked out and headed back along the road to Queenstown.
Typical driving scene in New Zealand |
In fact we made it right into Queenstown - right back to the cafe where we had the cheese and spinach scone two days previously. We had... a cheese and spinach scone. Very yummy.
Then we headed off to Wanaka via Cromwell, also along a previously used road. Having missed two big opportunities on the way south, we made sure to stop on the way north.
First came the bungee jumping off the old bridge on the Karawai Gorge. We stopped and watched someone jump, then took photos of the next one. Then I went out on to the bridge itself to see a third jumper. This guy went down far enough that his head and chest submerged in the water - and immediately the two guys at the top who prepared the jumpers started arguing jokingly: "Oh, a water one! That's your fault! You strapped him in!"
 Bungee jumping at Karawai Gorge |
Further along the road we stopped at the giant fruit at Cromwell. We had lunch in the lee of the enormous fruit and took some pics.
Eventually (well, in Cromwell actually) we hit the turnoff point where we stopped backtracking towards Twizel and took the road that will lead us to the west coast. The road to Wanaka itself wasn't too exciting, passing mainly through farming country.
Towards Wanaka we stopped at the airport, where there was a vintage aeroplane museum. Not having the $6 entry fee to spare, we skipped the fighter planes and contented ourselves with seeing a biplane on the tarmac.
 De Havilland Tiger Moth, New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum, Wanaka |
Closer to Wanaka we passed Puzzling World without stopping. We did stop at the visitor centre for a while to look at the displays, then passed on into the town itself. A tiny place, about the size of Twizel, maybe even smaller.
We made rice and veg again for dinner, washed some of our clothes, chatted with a Canadian couple over dinner, retired to our room for some backgammon and bed. Michelle had developed a cough/cold thing. I had to go out to get her some vapodrops.
Now, time to check the washing, then have a bedtime snack (bought 4 kiwifruit for NZ$0.83 this morning in Te Anau!).
Tomorrow we hit the west coast and glaciers!
Accommodation: YHA Wanaka: $34.
Food and drink: $16.30.
Laundry: $2.30.
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