Wonderful Wanaka

A lovely drive up to Wanaka, stopping off for a coffee at Arrowtown. This place is like time has stopped at the turn of the 20th century - a wonderful row of mainly wooden buildings where you could imagine the townsfolk dressed in Victorian clothing going about their daily chores. We drive along route 6 alongside Lake Dunstan and get to Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park late afternoon. As we are pushed for time, we get a taxi into the centre to eat at Kika, that is a great choice. We had a sharing plate of roast lamb that just melted in the mouth; abeit the portion served was enough for 4 people! After that, a short walk to Cork Bar, to meet Charlie and her partner, Mike for a quick drink. 5 hours later, we eventually leave the bar, having chatted about practically everything you could think off. We hear later that Charlie rang Steve, her dad in the UK, and rather incoherently told him how much she had enjoyed the evening, although we also understand she had one heck of a headache the next day. We did not feel that bright ourselves, so we thought a walk into town along the river was required the next day. We went through Wanaka Station Park, where there was an incredible tree that must have been 100 feet tall, and then we walked along the shore of the lake and saw the iconic That Wanaka Tree, which was very small but solitary and rather lonely, standing in the lake itself. Our stroll ended at The Big Fig where we sat on the comfy sofa outside, just people watching and supping some wine, with the sunshine keeping us pretty warm. It was a wrench to leave but we had to eat, and we found a great Indian restaurant called The Spice Room, where we had some tasty and pretty fiery dishes. Then back to our motorhome, to prepare for our journey up to Mount Cook.